Love rhymes with death
by i1976
Summary: Daisy seems always falling for the wrong guy, fling after fling, while Enos is patiently waiting for her. But something totally unexpected and dramatic is going to change their lives, and her feelings' wandering comes to an end. COMPLETE.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

The cold rain lashed the soil around Enos and it mixed with his blood soaking his blue shirt and making it adhering to his body like a parasite. The deputy lied nearly motionless, his eyes half-open to the gray sky, only his heavy breathe showing he was still alive; an excruciating and burning pain radiated from his belly up to his chest and down to his legs, but he was too much weak even to moan, all his strength left only for struggling for air.

The rain's roar and its drumming on the patrol cars muffled Sheriff Little's shouting in the CB and Sheriff Rosco's crying by his deputy's side.

Two hours after, the phone rang at the farm.

* * *

Daisy, Bo and Luke entered the farm just in time to see their uncle, deadly pale, sitting on the couch near the phone, his voice like a whisper in the receiver.

"When did it happen?"

Uncle Jesse's fingers seized the receiver desperately as the young Dukes froze in the living room, looking in shock at their uncle.

"And how…", uncle Jesse's voice cracked as he swallowed against the lump in his throat, his knuckles turning pale as he gripped the receiver even more strongly, listening silently at the voice on the other side.

"To Tri-County Hospital", he repeated to himself after a long pause.

Tri-County Hospital: the three cousins looked each other, wondering who's at Tri-County Hospital as a cold grasp raised from their foot to their hearts knowing, from their uncle's features and voice, for sure he was someone Dukes were fond of, maybe a Duke himself (Coy?, Vance?, some of their several relatives away from Hazzard? But why Tri-County Hospital?).

"And, did Rosco tell you if he's…", a deep breathe before to go on, "if he's still … alive?"

Daisy felt the urgency to sit down: someone (he, not she) was at Tri-County Hospital, maybe already dead, he wasn't Rosco but someone whom Rosco knew what's happened to, something probably happened in Hazzard; he could be anyone, but Daisy, somehow, felt suddenly scared to the point she could barely stand on her foot. What if…? She tried to erase the terrible thought that was slowly piercing her mind.

"Ok, thanks Lulu".

So, that was Lulu calling uncle Jesse, another piece in the puzzle Daisy, Bo and Luke were trying to make up in their minds. Was Lulu talking 'bout Boss? Did something happen to Boss? Bein' Lulu both Boss's wife and Rosco's sister, Boss could reasonably be the subject of Lulu's calling Dukes (Boss' friends and foes) and of Rosco's previously calling Lulu. With a sense of guilty, Daisy caught that possibility (Boss' being dead or injured/ill: a sad new but not the worst one) as someone shipwrecked catches a log in the middle of the ocean.

Uncle Jesse slowly put the receiver down and he looked up at his nephews, his eyes moist with tears lingering a bit over his niece, then only one word from him, "Enos".

And the log slipped from Daisy's hands.

* * *

**I thought I was goin' to take a pause from fanfiction, feeling I had no good or new idea, so avoiding to become repetitive. But... I decided to start this story 'cause:**

**1) Scenes of this prologue came to my mind in a sort of limbo between sleeping and awakening, and I loved it, so I HAD to write it.**

**2) Looking back at my previous stories (and, in particular, at readers' number and reviews from different stories) I realized there are a lot of people enjoying angst ****out there, people who love to see Enos in serious danger... as I love to put him in serious danger (yeah, I really like writing angst). So, I simply realized: "Hey, I like to write angst and people like to read angst, so, go on, no matter if it's not a revolutionary story but my usual way of writing (I'm only a fanfic's writer, not a famous writer who has to surprise with every new story).**

******3) I feel the urgency of writing, I can't help but writing something. I started a lot of stories like that, following the urgency of writing, starting from an image, a scene or an idea but without a developed plot in my mind, and usually my muse doesn't fail, so I hope I'm goin' to write a good story.**

**Please, REVIEW, 'cause my muse lives on reviews (and hints).**


	2. Bells, steam and blades

**BELLS, STEAM AND BLADES**

A hand squeezing his one, his first feeling after the darkness, then something soft touching his forehead and his lips: Enos Strate slowly opened his eyes, the sunlight in the room nearly blinding him. He could recognize that touch everywhere, her hand perfectly fitting in his palm: Daisy Duke.

He looked at her, a Daisy Duke totally exhausted and scared, but he had no strength to talk, he could barely take his eyes open, so he fell again in his darkness.

* * *

"He opened his eyes. He woke up". With a shout of joy, Daisy ran outside the room looking for a nurse, too much excited to remember she could simply call using the bell inside the room.

"Miss Daisy Duke, there's no need to shout like that, you're in Hospital, don't forget 'bout it"

Daisy turned to face the middle-aged nurse, an amused smile on her big face to smooth over her previous apparent crusty tone.

"Marie, Enos opened his eyes", Daisy grabbed the nurse's hand, and nurse Marie followed her to Enos' room; it was only one week that cop had been transferred from I.C.U. to her division but she felt as she knew that young woman from years ('cause she seemed to have taken root in deputy Strate's room); only one week to know everyone else 'round that cop, for sure a beloved cop since the number and frequency of visitors (on the top, Duke family).

"He opened his eyes, only for a moment, but he was awake, and he looked at me".

"OK, OK Daisy. It's a good thing, I know. But, now, calm you down"

Despite her apparent resistance, Marie entered the white room with Daisy, looking at the young woman sitting on the bed and starting caressing the cop, calling softly his name, tears flowing from her eyes when he didn't answer.

"He WAS awake, I wasn't dreaming. I REALLY saw him opening his eyes".

Marie sighed approaching the bed, sitting by Daisy's side and taking her hand in her big ones, "I trust you. He's goin' to wake up, I know, but you have to be patient. Sometimes he opens his eyes, I saw it, only for few seconds but he seems now to react. He's out of danger, you know, it's why doctors transferred him from I.C.U. to this division. Just be patient, and don't worry".

Daisy wiped her tears, nodding, "Yeah, but… Oh Marie, it's so… hard… all this waiting. And, even if I know he's now out of danger, I can't forget last weeks, praying day by day for his life".

Marie squeezed gently Daisy's hand, "Unfortunately, it's something you'll never forget, darling, but, now, please, try to smile. You're out the bad part of this thing. Don't look back at the worst days, but look forward".

"And have some rest, too". Uncle Jesse's voice interrupted the two women's chatting, "You can't spend all your time here, coming back home only for the night".

"And she'd stay here for the night too if we don't chase her out of the Hospital every evening", Marie stood up and she headed to the door, smiling, "if you need me, Daisy, call me… using that bell", she pointed at a push-button near the bed and she left the room.

Daisy wiped away the tears still on her cheeks and she smiled at her uncle, who's looking at her with his right eye-brown raised in a questioning way, "Enos woke up. He opened his eyes and he looked at me. So I run out the room to call Marie, forgetting… that", Daisy laughed pointing at the push-button, "but I was so happy, and… I forgot 'bout it"

Uncle Jesse smiled sitting down on the couch near the bed, "Really? Good news", then his look turned serious, "so, you can finally have some rest, Daisy. Lately you have pushed yourself … too further, you know". In uncle Jesse's voice all his worrisome, in his mind flowing scenes he prayed he had never to see again: Daisy hysterical crying during their run to Tri-County Hospital, her wandering in the corridor near the operating-room, her fainting as she saw the surgeon, his features tight, walking to them, her staying (the few granted time) by Enos' side when he was in I.C.U., … and everything linked with it; everything was perfectly impressed in her face, a totally exhausted, sad and still scared face. But, thinking 'bout it, uncle Jesse realized that, if Daisy was for sure the most affected of them all, last weeks had been ravaging for a lot of people, and for him too; he shivered remembering that call from Lulu, and he shook his head trying to avoid those pesky memories.

Enos Strate: their close friend, the man uncle Jesse knew since he was a little child, the man who has had a crush on Daisy since the seventh grade, the man Daisy nearly married only few months before (for reasons that seemed at that time incomprehensible), the man finally Daisy realized to love back after a long wandering (a long time spent falling, invariably, in wrong arms). Uncle Jesse observed the deputy still sleeping in his bed, the sheets covering his belly (where uncle Jesse imaged the cuts left by the stabbing and then by the operation), his exposed chest, his regular breathing, his paleness, the bruises almost gone scattered on his exposed skin, the liquid slowly entering his vein through a drip. He averted his gaze from that sight, a mix of rage and anxiety overwhelming him, and he looked at her niece, her eyes fixed on Enos' chest, as she was hypnotized.

"Daisy, I think Enos would keep on breathing even if you stop staring at him"

Daisy chuckled, "You're right, uncle Jesse, but I can't help but looking at him".

Uncle Jesse sighed looking at the clock (it was 1 p.m.) and remembering the reason of his visit; he took the bag he put on the table when he arrived, "Here's your lunch, Daisy. You should be able to eat everything whereas you keep on looking at him", he winked at her, trying to ease the discomfort he felt in that Hospital room with Enos in that condition, something totally unreal.

"Thanks, uncle Jesse"

Daisy hugged her uncle and she started eating her lunch, slowly, finally enjoying food's taste (something lost during last weeks), and keeping on looking at Enos, a tired but finally relaxed smile on her face: Enos was out of danger, and she thanked God for it.

* * *

Sunlight was slowly fading in the little room when Daisy opened his eyes, yawning and looking at the clock, realizing, horrified, she had slept for four hours, her first thought to Enos: did he wake up during her sleeping?

"He's still sleeping, and he's slept all the time"

Daisy turned to Luke sitting on a chair near the bed, "I didn't want to wake you up, Daisy. You were sleeping so peacefully, finally".

Daisy stretched her arms yawning again, "Yeah, I slept very well. It's the first time I sleep so deeply since…", she stood up without finishing the phrase and she approached the window, looking outside, her arms folded.

Luke looked at her silhouette standing out in the sunset's light. "Uncle Jesse told me Enos woke up. Did he…?".

Luke's unspoken words remained suspended in the room like steam.

"He opened his eyes and he looked at me, only for few seconds, but he didn't tell anything. I'd like to talk to him, but I don't know what to tell him, and … what he's goin' to tell me. I finally realized I love him, I realized it when I risked to loose him. These weeks are the worst weeks in all my life; I think I'm paying for all my mistakes, and I deserve it, but Enos… he didn't…"

New unspoken words, and other heavy steam filled the room like fog.

* * *

Dark and heavy steam closed in upon Enos, entering his lungs and mixing with air, so it was like he was breathing tainted water. He felt that water entering his nose and his mouth and reaching his lung; he was drowning, and other water lashed every inch of his exposed skin, then transforming in cold needles and piercing his flesh, hundreds of dark and cold needles torturing him while he was drowning. He couldn't move nor shout, he could barely breath, and the more he tried to breath, the more needles pierced his flesh deeply.

He strove to shout asking for help, but all his effort produced only a soft and painful moan and maybe a shiver.

She was there.

He felt her body adhering to him, her arms wrapped around his chest, and the needles suddenly melted under her warmth; he felt her mouth adhering to his one and somehow sucking away the rotten water in his lung. He was finally safe, he could breath easily and his skin was healed. She was saving him …

... Till a blade, firmly in her hand, sparkled in the darkness and it pierced deeply his belly; the cold and sharp blade passed through his skin and muscle reaching his bowels, and the worst pain he'd ever felt exploded in his head in the form of thousand of ringing bells.

* * *

**It's happening, again. I started a story without any clear plot (or, it's better to say, no plot at all except the starting scene, LOL), and, slowly, an interesting idea is taking form in my mind... so I'm goin' to explore a new path in Daisy/Enos' story. **

**I'm very happy of your reviews (6 for the first chapter, WOW)! Thank you, they help me and they really mean a lot to me. So, again, REVIEW!**


	3. White ceilings,silent corridors,tears

**WHITE CEILINGS, SILENT CORRIDORS AND TEARS**

Enos opened his eyes, his breathe heavy and his heart beating furiously in his chest: another nightmare, a nightmare he fought against for several hours (or for a time he seemed hours to him). He took a deep breath and he looked carefully at the ceiling (as it was a very interesting ceiling instead of an hospital's anonymous white ceiling) trying to calm his heartbeat and to fight the creepy darkness of his nightmare with that realistic and boring white ceiling. So, lost in his fight, he took several minutes to realize there's someone else in the room.

"Enos, how are you, boy?"

Enos turned to sheriff Little sitting on a chair at the side of the bed, his hat in his big hands. Boy… when did he start to call him "boy"? He looked surprised at the man sitting there to find a new man, no more the usual strong and serious cop (to the point to seem a sort of robot) but a new version of him: a surprising human version of sheriff Little.

"My dipstick is finally awake"

"My" dipstick? Enos turned to sheriff Rosco's characteristic voice and chuckling to find, sitting on a chair at the opposite site of the bed, another surprising version of the sheriff he'd always known, an apparently older man, his features tight and his smile tired despite his usual way to talk and chuckle. He remembered Daisy's face, the same tight features, sadness and scare on it under her smile.

A sudden itching on his right arm, where a fluid slowly was entering his vein through a needle, remembered him that he was probably the one who seemed more different than them all; he tried to figure what his friends could see looking at him: he felt so weak he could barely take his eyes open, every little movement roused a chain of pain starting from the origin of his movement and radiating everywhere (surprising him 'bout the connection of his nerves), and even the sheets laid heavy on his totally naked body, hurting him (fortunately his chest was uncovered so he could breath), not to mention the pain radiating from the bandages on his belly, bandages heavy like a big rock. For sure a pitiful version of him, and for sure sheriff Little and sheriff Rosco had still in their minds an even worse version of him: he swallowed against a rising nausea as he figured the two sheriffs waiting for an ambulance at the side of the fallen deputy, and that fallen deputy was him.

"We're lucky you woke up", Rosco looked briefly at sheriff Little, the look of a man who's asking for help before to tell something hard, "I'm sorry to ask you 'bout it, Enos, but… you know… it's police's business. We have to know it. Did you know who…", again that look to sheriff Little, "did you see who hurt you?"

Enos's hands clasped the sheets as he closed his eyes struggling for air, the rock on his belly heavier and heavier, crashing him. Police business. Sheriff Rosco and sheriff Little for sure were still after those men… bank robbers who nearly killed a cop, so it was dramatically police's business; his mind focused on the face of the man who stabbed him in that cowardly way, and Enos couldn't help but thinking that, somehow, it was also his fault if he's got injured that way, he was his fault 'cause he failed to arrest those men, and before he failed to unmask them, especially THAT man, 'cause it was not only police's business but his business too. He had to tell Rosco that damn name even if he was goin' to hurt someone, and he'd have killed himself instead of hurting someone who loved, but sometimes hurting could mean also saving. Truth sometimes hurts, but it's truth: that man was a robber and a possible killer, a liar and a betrayer, and he was a cop; torn between duty, sense of guilty and rage, Enos swallowed again against that pesky nausea and he told them that name, then darkness wrapped him again.

* * *

"Sheriff Rosco and Sheriff Little told me Enos woke up, only for awhile, but it seemed he talked to him, only few words. It's what they told me", Mary came out a room, a big smile on her face, a smile that faded away when she saw Daisy, Bo and Luke freezing in the middle of the corridor and looking each other, a strange look on their faces.

"Everything's OK?"

Daisy nodded, on her face a mix of happiness and anxiety, "Yeah, don't worry Mary. We're very happy Enos woke up, and we are glad he's starting to talk. It's only that… well, we're a bit jealous 'cause he didn't tell his first words to us"

Mary smiled again, "He's goin' to talk to everybody, just be patient"; she winked at Daisy then she entered again the room as the three cousins approached Enos' room.

Luke looked at Daisy, her arms folded and her eyes down to the floor as she walked silently.

"Daisy, please, stop. I know what you're thinking of, but, even if …", Luke looked at Bo the same way sheriff Rosco had looked at sheriff Little, "if our … your suspicion is right, but we all hope it's only a casualness, … well, we're…"

Daisy stopped and she turned to Luke, her look scared but firm, "What? If it's true what I think…", she lowered her head and she covered her eyes with her right hand, "Oh Luke, I've spent these weeks praying for him and waiting for his awakening while that terrible suspicion slowly grew up in my mind; maybe it's only a strange idea of mine, a casualness, as you said, or it's the truth, and now he's finally awake I'm totally terrified to know it. But, unfortunately, I feel it's the truth and not a fantasy of mine, and if it's the truth how could I look again Enos in his eyes? How could I tell him, now, after THIS, I love him? I… I'm a so stupid woman. I don't deserve him, and I wouldn't be surprise if he now hates me"

Tears started flowing on Daisy's cheeks and Bo hugged her, whereas Luke could do nothing else but looking at Daisy crying on Bo's shoulder, frozen in shock and sadness (did Daisy really think Enos could hate her? Did she spend all her time by Enos' side with that suspicion torturing her? Did she really spend those weeks torn between hope and fear, happiness and despair?).

When Enos' door opened, Dukes looked at Rosco and sheriff Little coming out, walking to them, sheriff Little's look firm and cold as usual, and Rosco's look down to the floor; Daisy's heart skipped a beat and her hands clasped Bo's yellow shirt as she was goin' to fall if she didn't catch hold of him.

In the corridor there was only the sound of the two sheriff' steps till they stopped in front of Dukes, then a total silent. Sheriff Little glanced at Daisy's knuckles turning pale as she kept on clasping Bo's shirt, a brief moment of humanity crossing his cold eyes.

Luke snapped out of his shocked state, it was useless to wait any more, "Did you ask him who nearly killed him, didn't you?"

Sheriff Little looked at Rosco whose eyes lingered a bit over Daisy before to mention that name, and Bo's shirt slipped from Daisy's hands as she fell down, unconscious.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

"My name is Ewan McCoy"

"And I'm Daisy Duke".

The man's eyes slid on the gorgeous waitress in her sexy outfit (a tight low-necked pink shirt, a pair of short shorts, the shortest ones he'd ever seen, and high heels shoes exalting her long legs); she also had a cute face and a bright smile, but Ewan was more interesting to her spectacular body than to her face.

Daisy blushed feeling the eyes of that man on her body. He was a beautiful man, tall, his shoulders were large, his hair blonde, and his eyes blue; his features were strong and he was looking at her with an amused smile on his lips and with a particular light in his eyes: a charming but not vulgar look. He was a sort of mix of some of his previous crushes: Darcy's features mixed with Jamie Hogg and Jude Emery charming and self-confidence, the kind of man Daisy's always had a soft spot. She realized the last time she felt that particular feeling was nearly two years before, when she was dating Darcy before he left Hazzard; thinking 'bout that, she didn't remember her heart was broken because of his leaving, not at all, she simply and quickly forgot him, but now this new man was recalling her the feeling Darcy (and, before Darcy, Jamie Hogg, Jude Emery, Gaylord Duke and some other men scattered along his life since she was a teenager) had the power to awake in her. Daisy knew her worst fault: vanity; she's always had the inclination to fall for that particular kind of man (good looking, well mannered and self confident), the kind of man who's able to tickle a woman's vanity, making her feeling like she was the lucky elect to deserve his loving attentions. Sometimes Daisy wondered if that inclination was linked not only with vanity but also with a sort of inferiority complex; anyway, she liked to attract that kind of man, and she usually fell in love with him, no matter if she usually found out he was the total wrong man for her, 'cause that kind of man, besides his good manners and self-confidence, was usually also vain and selfish.

As the man was drinking his beer, Daisy glanced at him, enjoying the way he glanced back at her, that charming smile still on his face.

When Enos entered the Boar's Nest Daisy barely looked at him, lost in her play with the stranger, but few after she couldn't help but to observe the stranger drinking his beer near the deputy who's drinking his buttermilk. What a strange view; she couldn't deny Enos was a man totally different from the stranger: he was well mannered for sure, but he was shy and goofy, no sign of self-confidence, and his smile had no the charm (both ironic and self confident) of the stranger, but it was sweet and loving. The men sitting at the other side of the counter were like day and night, and Daisy started to wonder, again like many times in the last months, what exactly nearly brought her to marry Enos few months before: she had a very strong affection for him, she couldn't stand to see him in danger or suffering, and she liked to stay with him (she could say, somehow, she's dated only Enos after Darcy, even if dating wasn't the right word to describe their relationship, it was more a spending some good time with a close friend, someone always sweet and someone she could trust). Daisy's feelings for Enos were deep, she knew it, but she couldn't understand exactly how deep, and the way Enos made her feel was a total different one from the Darcy's (or Jude's, or Jamie's, or Ewan McCoy's) way: he was sweet and kind, very respectful and somehow funny, and she usually felt at ease with him, she felt loved without any reserve, and she didn't feel the need to show anything else but herself to him 'cause she knew he'd have loved her anyway (the best side and the worst one of her), whereas the Jamie-kind-of-man was a sort of challenge for her, a conquest.

What's love? Daisy remembered a book she read when she was a teenager, 'bout two kind of love: the kind of love that comes like a storm and it can go away with the same quickness as it came, and the other kind of love, coming so slowly you don't even realize it' love, something that grows in your heart so slowly you don't notice it. For sure Daisy was more prone to experiment with the first kind of love because of her hot-tempered character, but lately she was wondering if her feelings for Enos were that second kind of love… or only a deep friendship?

Tired of all that wondering during last months, tired of all people asking her when she was finally goin' to marry Enos, and somehow disappointed 'cause Enos never mentioned their nearly wedding (as it didn't even happen), Daisy looked at the two men in front of her, the day (Enos, so sweet and bright) and the night (Ewan McCoy, so charming and somehow also deep and mysterious), and she decided to have a try with the night, a sort of experiment to help her to better understand her feelings; for sure a very strange way of thinking, but, if vanity was Daisy's worst fault, she had another clear characteristic: her haste in taking decisions (sometimes a good thing, but sometimes a very dangerous fault). Maybe Ewan McCoy was finally the right man for her (despite her previous disappointing experiences with that kind of man), and if he wasn't the right man, well, she'd have finally understood her real feelings: if the storm-like love hadn't satisfied her, she'd have finally settled down, no more storm-like loves, and she'd have finally given the right weight to her confused relationship with Enos, trying to make things clear.

After he drank his buttermilk (that tasted so bitter that day), Enos stood up, he thanked Daisy with his usual smile, and he left. Driving to the town, he kept on thinking the way Daisy had to flirt with a kind of man totally different from him; he's spent all his life looking at her falling in love with men who couldn't make her happy, wondering why she needed, somehow, to show herself (and other people) she matched up with men she thought better than her, with "winners", not realizing, instead, that she was perfect as she was and she hadn't to show anything to anyone. With a sigh, clenching the wheel, Enos thought of the day she nearly married him, wondering if he took the right decision calling off the wedding because of an excuse like the hives, or if, probably, he simply wasn't the right man for Daisy: she deserved someone better than him, not a loser like him but a "winner", a real "winner" and not a fake one (good looking, self-confident, but too much selfish) as the men she usually fell in love with.

* * *

**So, finally we are at the point of the story: things are starting to be clear, don't you think? **

**It's what I want to explore with this story: Daisy's attitude to fall in love with men totally different from Enos, men who really usually stun me because of their total emptiness besides their self-confidence; think 'bout it, Daisy usually falls in love with men who are good looking and too much self confident (the cowboy-type... "hey baby"... bleah!), but somehow selfish (and most of them, liars too). It's really impressive her way to fall in love with the wrong man, but fortunately, in the series, she doesn't date anyone besides Enos since the 6th season (she spends the first series to fall in love with different but similar men, but nobody else than Enos from the 6th series, being Darcy, in the 5th season, the last one, and again a total "empty" and "indifferent" man except for his good looking and self-confidence, LOL... a so boring man).**

**Moreover, I'd like to explore Enos' feelings 'bout this attitude of Daisy. I'd have liked to see some reaction from Enos when Daisy is flirting with someone else, but, knowing Enos, he's the kind of man who keeps his pain for himself (too much proud and respectful to let Daisy know he's hurt, 'cause he wants only her happiness).**

**OK, after 6 reviews for the first chapter, only one for the second one (what a lazy readers, LOL), but I think (I mean, I hope) you were only waiting to know where this story is leading before to comment again, and, in effect, the second chapter was still a sort of "prologue" saying nothing more 'bout the real plot. So, now the plot is more clear. Let me know if you like it.**


	4. Good intentions, pride and consequences

**GOOD INTENTIONS, A SPARK OF PRIDE and CONSEQUENCES**

_FLASHBACK_

From the window of the Sheriff's department, Enos looked at Daisy and Ewan walking in the Hazzard's square, Daisy's arms wrapped around Ewan's left arm, a charmed smile on her face (the same smile of a little child looking at her father and waiting for his caress) whereas Ewan's eyes wandered on the near buildings, pretty indifferent of the beautiful woman hanging on his arm besides a sort of typical masculine pride (the characteristic pride of a vain man showing people his new beauty). Ewan's eyes finally turned to Daisy making her blush because of something he said with his amused and mischievous smile.

Enos sighed and he shook his head: how many times did he see that look on Daisy's face? Why did a woman like Daisy (so beautiful, sweet and clever) always fall in love with men too much in love with themselves (and of their power on women) to be able to really love someone else? What did she find in that kind of man? Did she feel safe with them? Or did she simply admire their self-confidence and bravery, hoping somehow to be bathed in their same light? Why didn't she understand she was enough bright she didn't need any other light, especially that kind of cold light she seemed always looking for?

With a grimace of defeat and sadness, he walked away from the window and he sat at his desk, trying to erase the image of Daisy and Ewan from his mind. He knew this kind of Daisy's love affairs always ended up with Daisy's heart broken, but fortunately she had the great capability to go on, forgetting the pain, maybe 'cause, in effect, it wasn't her heart to be broken but her pride: Enos knew Daisy enough to wonder if she really missed her lost lovers or, moreover, if she regretted to have fallen in love with the wrong man, being somehow more embarrassed (and angry) of her naivety than sad of her lost love story. But, what if he was wrong and Ewan was different from previous Daisy's lovers? Enos swallowed against the lump in his throat: what if, this time, Daisy's found a "real" winner for her? He closed his eyes, thinking again of that man: his eyes, his smile and his manners. No, he simply couldn't be the right man for Daisy.

"Enos, you dipstick!"

Rosco's voice made him start so papers in his hands flied all around his desk. He knelt down picking up all those papers, embarrassed for his clumsiness, as Rosco kept on talking.

"Bad news, bad news. Sheriff Little just told me 'bout a bank robbery in Chickasaw County, and 'bout more robberies in several other banks in the Counties all around Hazzard, so Hazzard County's bank could be the next one".

Enos, still knelt down, the papers in his nervous hands, looked up at his sheriff, "Bank robbers?", then he looked down again at the documents in his hands, "Yeah, I read 'bout some bank robberies. There's a notice, here, 'bout it", his voice now almost a whisper. He shook his head; how did he forget 'bout it? He read 'bout the bank robberies the day Ewan arrived in Hazzard, then he forgot everything, his mind elsewhere. Enos clenched his fingers around the papers, his work, blushing for his distraction.

"Enos, you, dipstick. Why didn't you tell me 'bout that notice?"

"Sorry, sheriff. I… I forgot 'bout it", he stood up, his eyes down at the floor, his hands still clasped around the papers, "I... I now remember 'bout three masked men robbing banks in some Counties nearby… Chickasaw, Osage, …"

"Oh, thank you Enos", a crusty and ironic pitch in Rosco's voice, "but I already know it… thanks Sheriff Little. Now, if you want to help me, try to think if you've seen some strangers in Hazzard lately… if only you can think 'bout something but not Daisy Duke. And, if I don't get wrong, that woman is dating a stranger, isn't she? Them Dukes, I bet they're involved in those bank robberies".

Enos blushed furiously, his mind torn between duty and love: Daisy… and Ewan, a stranger. Was Ewan a bank robber? A man just arrived in Hazzard, and his cop's mind couldn't help but thinking of the way that man was previously looking all around Hazzard's square (and Hazzard's bank was there, in Hazzard's square): a sort of reconnaissance, using Daisy in order to know everything 'bout Hazzard's habits? Enos shook his head: could it be real, or was he trying to find a good excuse to hate that man? A log to catch in order to satisfy himself that man couldn't be the right man for Daisy, another wrong man after a list of wrong men.

Thinking of Ewan as a possible bank robber made him strangely relaxed, somehow encouraged, for a while, but he suddenly felt ashamed of that inner desire: he didn't want Daisy was involved in something potentially dangerous as bank robberies, and he didn't want someone broke her heart. Daisy's happiness was more important than his one, and even if he hoped Daisy stopped dating Ewan (and men like Ewan), even if he wanted Daisy all for himself, he couldn't help but feeling guilty and ashamed because of his thoughts 'bout Ewan (even if he didn't like Ewan, it didn't mean Ewan was a robber, nor he could hope Ewan was a robber). He so decided to put his doubts apart, giving Ewan a chance, but keeping an eye on him too, anyway, in case Daisy was in danger.

The duputy sighed, facing again that precarious balance: duty (he had to protect Hazzard's bank) and love (he had to protect Daisy); he had to protect Daisy both from disillusion and danger (if Ewan was a robber), and from false charges (if Ewan wasn't a robber) since Boss and Rosco would've taken the opportunity to accuse Dukes and any stranger around Dukes of a possible bank robbery if they hadn't found the real robbers. So, if Ewan wasn't a robber, protecting Dukes (and Daisy) meant protecting Ewan too, his rival, and protecting Ewan (an innocent, despite he didn't like him) meant to be a good cop: what an ironic situation. Enos sighed again, repeating his usual mantra in his mind: _"I'll do anything for Daisy, no matter how it could be painful for me, but I won't forget to be a cop, anyway". _Good intentions, but sometimes really complicated.

* * *

"Good morning Miss Daisy Duke"

In the little white room of the Hospital, Daisy looked at the stranger near her bed.

"You really scared your family fainting like that. I supposed because of your sense of guilty"

A flush both of rage and embarrass made Daisy blush as she observed that man: nearly 40 years old, tall, short and blonde hair, cold blue eyes, short moustache on his severe mouth, he dressed a white shirt, a black jacket, a pair of black trousers and a black tie; whereas Daisy was wondering who was, the man took a little notebook and a pen from the inner pocket of his jacket, and that gesture revealed Daisy his identity before he talked.

"I'm officer Andy Flanagan, State Police, and I have to ask you something, Miss Duke"

A cop (obviously) from State Police (obviously), and he was obviously after violent bank robbers who nearly killed Enos (another cop). And that cop was goin' to interrogate the woman who was said to have presumably helped those robbers (or, at least, one of those robbers). Again Daisy blushed furiously, not because of rage or embarrass, nor because of fear, but because of shame: how could she be so naïve and stupid to have had a crush on someone like Ewan McCoy?

"I didn't know that man was a bank robber. If I had only known 'bout it… I… I'd have never let anybody hurt Enos", she stopped, wondering if the right thing to do was talking to that cop before his questions (could he use her words against her? did she need a lawyer? anyway, he didn't say she was under arrest, did he?), but she needed to ease the pain inside; she needed to shout to everybody (and especially to herself) she didn't wanted to help that man and it wasn't her fault if Enos was injured, but she was simply a stupid woman falling for bad men. But the more she thought 'bout it, the more she felt ashamed and guilty.

"If I had thought you voluntary helped those men, I'd have already arrested you, Miss Duke".

Despite his reassuring words (so, he wasn't goin' to arrest her, after all), Daisy's shivered because of his cold and inquisitive eyes and his harsh tone: she could feel a freezing hate under it, a deep rage.

"You're simply a vain and immature woman falling for bad guys. I've seen many women like you in my life, ruining themselves and people around them because of their immaturity".

His harsh tone and that cold rage stunned her. Daisy opened her eyes wide in order to stop her tears falling; the cop's words were like a slap for her, the worst words someone could tell her, but the same words she kept on repeating in her mind after Enos's got injured; anyway, hearing those words from a stranger was a lot worse than repeating it only in her mind.

Andy Flanagan sighed scratching briefly his head, and Daisy wondered if he was simply annoyed of her tears, or if he was regretting his words and his way to act.

"Ok, I said more than I had to say. Sorry".

Daisy nodded, accepting his excuses despite his usual cold tone (so distant from real excuses), and, yeah, despite he said more and more than he had to say, but, at least, he seemed sincere, and somehow she felt like she deserved his scorn.

"I'm goin' to tell you anything I know 'bout Ewan McCoy, officer Flanagan, and I hope you're goin' to arrest him and his gang. I was falling in love with a liar, a crooked man, and yeah, you're right, I've been stupid and immature, but I want to see that man in jail, and I want to help you"

Officer Flanagan slowly nodded looking at that woman, a spark of pride and rage in her green hazel eyes.

"You're better I was thinking of, Miss Duke".

Daisy caught a fleeting smile on officer Flanagan's lips (so fleeting she wondered if it was in effect a smile or an annoyed grimace), but his tone was more kind, and his words nearly polite, so she relaxed and she started to tell him everything she knew 'bout Ewan McCoy.

* * *

"Good morning, deputy Strate"

Enos moaned covering his eyes with his hand against the blinding sunlight.

"Oh, come on, it's a beautiful day, and it's time you try to stay awake the more as possible".

Nurse Mary's voice was cheerful as usual, but Enos moaned again when she raised the bed-head so he was now sitting in his bed instead of lying down. He sighed and he slowly opened his eyes, removing his hand and looking carefully all around his room.

Mary stopped smiling and she looked at him, "I don't know if she comes to visit you, today"

Enos froze, then he slowly turned to Mary, his eyes on her, waiting for something more from her 'cause he couldn't even talk to ask her anything. He remembered he told Rosco and sheriff Little 'bout Ewan McCoy. What was Daisy thinking 'bout it? Did she trust his words or did she think his memory was wrong? Was her heart broken, again? Was she angry? Or sad? Or ashamed? She wasn't there, why?

Finally the nurse answered his silent questions, "She doesn't feel very well. Oh, don't worry, only a faint, and she's resting in a room nearby, so it's nothing to be worried for. She only needs some rest".

Faint? Was she so shocked to the point to faint and to need rest? Enos eyes opened wide as he started to breath quicker.

Noticing his reaction, nurse Mary tried to reassure him… in the worst possible way (even if her intentions were good), "Hey, calm down. She's now awake and safe. I know she's actually talking to someone of the State Police, so it means she's OK".

Enos' breathe became quicker and quicker as cold sweat started to cover all his body and he started to feel little needles piercing his hands and his feet. State police? Why? Did State Police think Daisy was a party to Ewan and his gang? He had to protect her from false charges.

"Ok, it seems you need to rest too, I'm sorry". Nurse Mary approached his bed, she took a syringe from a closet and she injected its liquid in Enos' vein; then, looking at the cop slowly falling asleep, Mary shook her head and she sighed, "Oh, I'm really stupid. I'm so sorry, Enos".

* * *

"I hope I told you something useful, officer Flanagan. I really hope you're goin' to arrest that man". Daisy looked at officer Andy Flanagan slowly putting his notebook and his pen in his pocket, a thoughtful look on his face, and she didn't understand if he was satisfied or annoyed of all her words.

"You told me nothing more I already knew. That man simply used you, and he's too clever to show something more than strictly necessary. He uses stupid women to…", he stopped and he looked up at her, briefly, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean…"

Daisy held her breath trying to calm down. That man had the natural gift of insulting people he was talking to, despite his calm voice and his appearance: pure venom from a good-look man.

Andy Flanagan caught again a spark of pride (and rage too) in Daisy's eyes.

"I'm stupid, OK, you already said it. But I want you to arrest that man. I think I'm the one I want it more than anyone else. It's something personal; not because he cheated me, but because he nearly killed Enos"

After a brief silence, his cold eyes on Daisy, Officer Flanagan slowly undressed his jacket and then unbuttoned his shirt, as Daisy looked at him in shock: _"What's he doing?_ _Is he crazy? Have I to shout asking for help?". _Daisy's starting shock changed direction when she noticed a bad scar on his belly.

"You could say you're the one who wants it more than anyone else only if you had ever felt a blade entering your belly. I felt it, and I won't forget it, never, and deputy Strate too is goin' to feel it, again and again, and you're somehow part of it".

Daisy's breathe became quicker and quicker as she struggled for air, trying not to shout, looking like hypnotized at that scar and realizing, now more than ever before, the consequences of her "stupidity and immaturity" (using officer Flanagan's words).

* * *

**I hope you're enjoying it... so REVIEW! Reviews make me write quicker.**


	5. Complications and implications

_Sorry for the delay, but I'm having a sort of writer's block right now, and I hope this new chapter is goin' to help me to come out from this block. _

* * *

**COMPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS**

Daisy looked at the rain drumming against the window, in her mind Andy Flanagan's words.

"_You could say you're the one who wants it more than anyone else only if you had ever felt a blade entering your belly. I felt it, and I won't forget it, never, and deputy Strate too is goin' to feel it, again and again, and you're somehow part of it"._

She folded her arms trying to stop her shivering and she leaned her forehead against the cold window, closing her eyes.

"Daisy…"

Enos' voice behind her made her start. She slowly turned to him, her eyes wide open in order to prevent tears flowing. Even through tears she could perfectly see all his pain, his sad eyes firmly on her when tears started to flow on her cheeks.

"Daisy… I'm sorry"

His words stunned her: why was he sorry? Sorry? SHE was sorry.

"I'm sorry. I'd have understood 'bout… Ewan, 'bout who Ewan was, protecting you from him"

Daisy looked at him in shock: was he really telling her he was sorry for her? Was he sorry 'cause Ewan hurt her feelings, her pride? Ewan nearly killed him, and was he worrying for her? So typical of Enos, she knew it, but this side of him, his unconditional love, his big heart and his honesty stunned her, making her feel guilty. She was somehow ready to face his rage, she'd have accepted his disappointment, but she wasn't ready to what he was saying.

"I started to suspect Ewan could be a robber when you were… dating him", he slowly averted his eyes from her, "and… I'd have stopped you, but I had no proofs he was really a robber, so… I waited too much. If I had told you I suspected Ewan was a robber, maybe…"

"Enos, oh my God, please", Daisy stopped his words, "Ewan nearly killed you and are you telling me YOU're sorry? Oh Enos", she approached his bed and she sat near him, "I've spent all these days feeling guilty for what happened to you. You should be angry, and not sad, for what happened"

"Angry?", Enos looked at her in surprise, "I could never get angry with you"

Daisy sighed, looking away from him, "Sometimes you make me think I don't deserve you, Enos. And this is one of those moments: you're too pure for someone like me. I'm selfish, and I hurt you so many times I wonder how you could be so kind with me even now". Daisy was surprised of her words even more than Enos was: did she throw herself into wrong men's arms 'cause she somehow thought she didn't deserve Enos and his strong and pure love? Did she feel she deserved only shallow men, men able to tickle her vanity but not to really hurt her feelings the same way she couldn't hurt their feelings? Did she feel attracted from "night-men" 'cause she felt she could be only a "night-woman", being afraid of Enos-kind light? Was she somehow scared of the deepness of Enos' love? For sure, her shallow crushes couldn't hurt her, but they amused her. This new and surprising awareness of herself and of her attitude to fall for men like Ewan hit her.

"Daisy… what are you talking 'bout? How could you say something like that? I've always thought of you as… the best woman in the all world, too much for me, being content with even only a smile from you. And…"

Daisy's lips pressed against Enos ones, her arms wrapped around his neck and her chest adhered to his body.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

Daisy's lips pressed against Ewan's ones, her arms around his neck.

When they parted after that passionate kiss she felt strange: she was happy but not totally satisfied. And Ewan's amused and self-confident smile, the way he was looking at her, made her feel somehow dirty, a strange and pesky feeling. She liked dating Ewan, but not the same way she had liked dating Jamie Hogg, or Jude Emery, or Darcy. She wondered if it was 'cause Ewan was different from them, or 'cause SHE was different from then. She felt she wanted something more, but she couldn't understand what she really wanted: Ewan was good-looking, funny, strong, self-confident, gentle, so… what did she want more? She thought of the day she decided to date Ewan, her wondering 'bout storm-like love, and she's now starting to wonder if she was too old for that kind of love. Anyway, Ewan wouldn't have stayed in Hazzard forever, so she could have some fun with him 'til his leaving. There was no risk to be hurt or to hurt him (she felt Ewan was too much selfish to be hurt), it was only some time spent flirting and having fun, no complications or implications, like so many times in the past.

"Are you OK, darling? You seem upset", Ewan's hand reached her hair, caressing her.

His touch made her shiver, for sure that man knew how to touch a woman. A good time spent flirting with a good-looking and self-confident man, a man to admire, a man for sure other women were envying her, a perfect man for Daisy Duke, someone who could make her become brighter: so, why wasn't she feeling totally happy? Why wasn't she content? Why was Ewan different from Jamie? Or Darcy?, or Jude? What had happened to her since her previous crushes? Enos, and their nearly wedding: IT happened to her since her previous crushes. Was she finally starting to understand her feelings for Enos?

Ewan's hand slid on Daisy's neck and all over her spine; yeah, that man for sure knew how to touch a woman. "I'm sorry, darling. But you know, I can't stay here forever. I know you're sad 'cause I'm goin' to leave. Remember me, 'cause I'll always remember you. I'm goin' to miss you, darling".

Only some other few time spent flirting with Ewan, no complications and no implications. Daisy thought she would've had a lot of time after Ewan's leaving to analyze her feelings and her attitudes: in effect, she remembered she decided to date Ewan like a sort of experiment to better understand her feelings. She shivered under Ewan's touch and she wrapped again her arms around his neck: an amusing experiment, but, deep in her heart, Daisy was happy it was coming to the end. For sure she wasn't goin' to be hurt from his leaving, nor he was goin' to be hurt or saddened. No complications or implications for nobody.

When Daisy parted from his hug, her cheeks burning red, her eyes caught a blue figure at the other side of the street. Enos. He was looking at her and Ewan, but when he noticed her eyes on him he walked away.

No complications or implications? Daisy held her breath as her heart skipped a beat.

Enos. Daisy looked at him walking away whereas thunders resounded in the distance; she looked up at the sky where dark clouds were starting to cover the sun.

"I think your friend is a bit jealous", Ewan caressed her cheek, but this time she felt no shiver on her spine and she parted from him. She tried to smile at him, a forced and a sad smile; when she looked at him she found a cold look on his face, the look of a man too much used to be the center of women's universe, the look of a man angry (but not sad) to understand he's not the center of the universe of the woman in front of him: a selfish man. Again, that pesky feeling, even more bitter, overwhelmed her.

* * *

Enos lips remained still, as usual except of the day she asked him to marry her.

Daisy stopped kissing him and she looked at him, deeply in his hazel eyes, "Oh Enos, please. Kiss me the same way you kissed me that day at the lake. I need it. I need you… 'cause… I love you, Enos Strate"

Enos' eyes opened wide, "Do you really love me, Daisy? Is it no 'cause you're feeling guilty, or 'cause you have pity of me, here in this Hospital, or…"

Daisy put a finger on his lips, "Enos, stop, I don't want to hear you talking 'bout sense of guilty or pity. It hurts me if you think like that. I don't want you think something like that. I love you, yeah, and I'm sorry I'm telling you it only now, 'cause I'd have told you it a lot time ago, but I was confused… and stupid, so confused and stupid I started dating someone like Ewan. I'm so… sorry, Enos"

Daisy looked away, no more able to stand his deep eyes, a way to look at her rarely Enos used, but a way that always made her feel naked in front of him. That way he used to look at her usually made Daisy wonder if Enos knew her better than she could think; in effect, there was a way Enos looked at things and people, a way usually hidden to most people (but not to Daisy), that let his deepest side transpire. Daisy's spent her whole life, since they were children, to understand that hidden side of him: for sure she was the one she knew Enos better than anyone else in Hazzard, but she knew there was something more in him, a mix of pride, pain and strength really difficult to understand.

Enos' fingers touched softly Daisy's chin, turning gently her face to him.

Daisy looked at his sweet and shy smile, feeling totally happy and satisfied, no dirty or embarrassed or strange, but totally happy even before he leaned toward her and he kissed her, a gentle but passionate kiss, even better than the one they shared the day they nearly married, better than any other kiss in all her life. Her hands slid on his bare chest as she wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body on him and keeping on kissing him deeply… 'til he moaned stopping their kiss.

She realized she was hurting him pressing on him like that and she quickly parted from him, her worried eyes firmly on him as she looked at him doubling up with pain, his hands clasping the sheets on his belly.

"Enos, I'm so sorry, sugar"

He took a deep breathe, he closed his eyes and he stayed motionless for a while, huddled under the sheets, his hands still on his belly while Daisy caressed his nape repeating she was sorry. After another deep breathe he opened his eyes, looking at her and trying to smile to reassure her, "I'm OK, Daisy, don't worry. It seems my system isn't really able to take all this happiness". He chuckled, but Daisy can't help but notice he was pale and covered in cold sweat.

"_You could say you're the one who wants it more than anyone else only if you had ever felt a blade entering your belly. I felt it, and I won't forget it, never, and deputy Strate too is goin' to feel it, again and again, and you're somehow part of it". _

Andy Flanagan's voice slapped her, resounding in her mind…

And not only in her mind.

"It seems you're really good to hurt that poor man, Miss Daisy Duke". Andy's voice resounded in the room. "What a lovable couple"

* * *

**OK, I know this story is flowing very slowly, but I hope you're liking it. **

**And now, please, review! Your reviews for sure will help me to win over my writer's block.**


	6. Blue Pontiac firebird on Route 16

_I know, I know. A lot of you were waiting for the most dramatic part of this story... I mean... you know what. So, it's for all angst's lovers._**  
**

* * *

**BLUE PONTIAC FIREBIRD ON ROUTE 16**

Enos looked surprised at the stranger entering the room as Daisy froze.

"You nearly died 'cause of that woman, deputy Strate, but you seem too much in love to realize it, or to be angry".

Daisy looked down, avoiding Flanagan's eyes, but she stayed near Enos, sitting on the bed, her hand reaching automatically his one. Enos loved her, she knew it, and Enos now knew she loved him, and it was the most important thing for her after all the time she wasted in the past.

"I nearly died because of a robber, not because of Daisy… Mr…?"

"I'm Officer Andy Flanagan, State Police. I'm really sorry for your injury, deputy Strate, and I know what that Ewan and his gang are able to do". Andy's voice became soft and sincere, no more the sarcasm he used entering the room. That man for sure could turn from devilish to angelic in the blink of an eye.

"I already talked to that lady, deputy, but she told me only things I already knew 'bout Ewan McCoy", he shrugged, "a totally useless talk, so I'd like to talk with you, if you are OK"

Her gaze on Enos's hand in hers, Daisy heard him accepting to talk to officer Flanagan and she understood, feeling the eyes of both men on her, she had to leave them alone. They were goin' to have a cops' talk, and Daisy knew Enos' attitude 'bout police's business: it was his work, his duty, and he didn't want to involve anyone in it, especially her. She stood up and she walked to the door, Enos and Andy's eyes still on her (but a with total different look from any of them); after she came out the room, she leaned for a while against the door, having a deep sigh.

"Officer Flanagan, Daisy Duke is totally innocent, she didn't know Ewan McCoy is a robber, so, leave her out all of this thing, please. I'm the only one to blame here, 'cause I wasn't able to stop that robber". Enos's voice came muffled from the other side of the door, and Daisy smiled, moved to tears: so typical of Enos, protecting her, always, no matter what.

"Tell me what happened, exactly, from the beginning, since the day Ewan arrived in Hazzard". The sound of a chair moving as Andy Flanagan sat near the bed, ready to hear Enos' story, and Daisy run away, away from that story.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

The rain drummed on the patrol car's windscreen as Enos heard Rosco's voice on the CB, "Enos, you dipstick. Hazzard's bank's been robbed. Do you hear me? A bank robbery, HAZZARD'S BANK ROBBERY! I'm chasing them but I'm having some problems with my car. They're driving a blue Pontiac Firebird and they're heading on over to Chickasaw County on Route 16. Go after them"

"Blue Pontiac Firebird….Route 16…. Chickasaw County… I'm goin'". Chickasaw County, route 16, and he was nearby; Enos gripped the wheel as he made a U-turn, the tires splashing mud as the patrol car sped on the road, its siren off in order to not let the robbers know 'bout his position. Enos swallowed against the lump in his throat; he didn't fear to face them (it was his duty, facing robbers, killers and any kind of criminals), but he feared to know finally who the robbers were: new strangers coming to Hazzard (that Ewan and some men Enos noticed talking with him some days ago) and now a bank's robbery.

"Sheriff, did you see them? I mean, did you know any of them?", Enos' fingers seized the CB receiver as he was trying to smash it, as the time before Rosco's answer dilated more and more (or, at least, it was Enos' feeling).

"No, they were masked, and for sure they didn't show their I.D.'s to bank's clerks, … you… dipstick. Hush and go after them instead of askin' me silly things!"

Enos sighed, but there was another lump in his throat, bigger than the previous one; he took a deep breath and he faced it, his voice hoarse because of a total lack of salivation, "Any hostage?".

"No hostages. If they had some hostages, I'd have already told you, dipstick".

Another deep sigh of relief: no hostage, it meant that, even if Ewan was one of the robbers, Daisy wasn't with him. She had to stay out of it.

Enos relaxed but his relax abruptly faded as he saw the blue Pontiac passing behind a little hill, on Route 16, and he knew how to reach Route 16 quickly from his position, since he knew Hazzard's roads better than his own pockets. A swerve, a jump and a perfect landing (as he was able to perform if he really wanted it) and he was exactly behind the Pontiac, finally the patrol car's siren on, no need to hide any more.

"I'm goin' after them, sheriff, on Route 16, to Chickasaw County"

"I'm waiting for you at the end of the road, Strate. They're not goin' to pass from here", Enos smiled hearing sheriff Little's voice on the CB: a perfect police operation, cops chasing real bank robbers instead of the usual wasting of time (even if a funny way to waste time) chasing Dukes. He was pushing the robbers towards sheriff Little, they had no chance: it was what Enos was thinking 'till he saw the Pontiac swerving and leaving the road, hiding into the woods at the side of the road.

"Possum on a gum bush, they can't drive into the woods, it's too much thick for a car, or…?". Finally he realized what they were trying to do: they were goin' to try to run away afoot, hiding in the woods, a place where it'd have been very difficult to find them; so, it wasn't any more his patrol car against their Pontiac, but him against them, 'cause he couldn't wait for sheriff Little and Rosco but he had to follow them, trying to understand where they were heading 'till Rosco and Sheriff Little's arrive.

The patrol car entered the woods but it suddenly stopped, exactly behind the Pontiac; their car was there, its doors opened, no one inside. Enos swallowed hard, then he took the CB, "They're running away afoot, in the woods on Route 16's side, I'm goin' after them". He put the CB's receiver down and he went out the car, a brief moment to observe everything around him and to notice a broken branch and some footmarks in the wet soil, then he followed them, his gun in his hand.

The lashing rain deadened every noise, so Enos, totally drenched, could only follow their footmarks, his gun firmly in his hand. Step by step, fighting with the shrubs scratching his hands, he finally reached a little glade and he stopped, looking around to find other footmarks.

A cold shiver ran all over his spine when he felt the barrel of gun pushed against his back.

"Put your gun down, deputy, and then hands up"

The voice behind him was cold and very calm. Enos took a deep breath, he slowly knelt down, putting down his gun on the ground, then he stood up, his hands up.

"Good boy", the man chuckled and he kicked Enos' gun, getting it out of the cop's reach.

"For sure he'd the nerve to follow us here, alone".

Enos instantly knew the voice of the second man speaking behind him; no doubt 'bout it, he was Ewan McCoy. His heart started beating faster and faster as he fought with the instinct to turn to Ewan and to punch him with all his strength: that man was betraying Daisy, and for sure Daisy'd have been hurt knowing the truth 'bout Ewan. No matter if finally Ewan'd have come out Daisy's life (a bitter comfort for Enos), nobody could hurt Daisy, he couldn't stand to see someone hurting the woman he'd always loved. Enos took a deep breath trying to calm down: there were two men behind him (but he knew there was another man somewhere there,'cause some days ego he saw Ewan talking with two other men, two strangers), a gun in their hands, and he couldn't make silly moves; the only thing he could do was to pander to them, hoping meanwhile for Rosco's and sheriff Little's help, or hoping they're simply goin' to tie him and to run away, leaving him behind, tied and so no more able to follow them. But his hopes quickly disappeared as Ewas hit his nape and he pushed him down to the ground.

"You're Daisy's close friend, aren't you? What a lucky day"

"Ewan, we have no time to play with the deputy, you know. Hazzard's and Chickasaw's sheriffs are after us".

The voice of the third man, three against one, and he was lying on the ground, face down, Ewan pressing his knee and all his weight on his back, between his scapulas, so he could barely breath; Enos closed his eyes, trying to calm and not to panic. It was for sure the worst situation he had ever faced.

"Yeah, but when them two will know their deputy is injured, they'll come here, setting the road free. We have only to come back to the car, inform them 'bout the deputy and then stay hidden 'till they arrive. At that point, we'll know the road is free. I noticed a good spot where to hide the car, they're not goin' to find us". Ewan pressed his knee against Enos' spine, making him moan.

"A great change. Sheriffs will have to choose if keep on running after us, or if come here to rescue their deputy. And if one of them will decide to keep on running after us, well, he'll be one against three", again, the cold voice of the first man, "Since you seem to know him, Ewan, come on, give him what he deserves".

Ewan's pressure on Enos' spine stopped, but it was only a temporary relief for the deputy 'cause a violent kick hit his right side, turning him on his back, and other kicks followed as he instinctively raised his arms to cover and to protect his head, letting the rest of his body exposed to Ewan's violent hits.

"Hey, Ewan, don't waste your time and do what you have to do". The third man grabbed and blocked Enos' arms on the ground, uncovering his face, as Ewan sat astride the cop's lap.

The deputy couldn't help but looking in shock at Ewan taking a knife out of his pocket. Since then, everything happened as in slow motion: Ewan devilish smile, the rain slashing him as he laid on the ground, blocked by two men, the knife's blade sparkling in the lightning, and, at the end, the worst pain ever experienced as the blade entered his belly. He shouted at the top of his lungs but his shout was covered by a thunder, or it seemed so to him (was it a thunder or was it his shout resounding in his head?), then he sank in a deep and cold darkness.

* * *

Sinking in the couch in the Hospital's hall, Daisy wondered what Enos was telling officer Flanagan, turn between the desire to know everything 'bout that day and the fear. In the last weeks, she learned everything 'bout that day: she knew the robbers informed Rosco and sheriff Little that Enos was injured, in a glade in the woods near Route 16, and if they wanted to find him still alive they had to hurry up; she knew Enos was injured as he was after the robbers, and she knew the three robbers had masks when they robbed Hazzard's bank. Daisy knew what everyone in Hazzard knew, but, obviously, she couldn't know Enos' part of the story; people in Hazzard were still talking 'bout it, 'cause the robbing, and especially their beloved deputy's stabbing, had shocked them all. And, lately, Daisy was sure people were talking 'bout Ewan (known as Daisy Duke's last crush) bein' one of the robbers: nobody had the nerve to talk openly to her 'bout it, but he felt everyone knew it (news quickly ran in Hazzard), and she hated the way people had to look at her, a mix of pity and curiosity, and sometimes scorn, for sure something didn't help her to deal with her sense of guilty.

Steps of someone approaching her woke Daisy from her thoughts. She looked up at officer Flanagan, a mix of pity and scorn on his face, "I really don't know why that man still loves you. Maybe he's mad, or maybe you're something more than what you seem to me". He sighed and he shrugged, "Anyway, for me it's time to go away. Good bye, Daisy Duke, and try not to hurt that poor man any more, he doesn't deserve it"

Daisy nodded, her look down and her arms folded in a defensive way, "I promise. I'm goin' to do anything for Enos' happiness. I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned the lesson".

Flanagan's eyes were still on her, she could feel it but she couldn't look up at him.

"Yeah, I think you're better than what I thought. Good luck, and take care of that man".

Daisy looked at the man leaving, unsure 'bout hating him or thanking him for his frankness.

* * *

**Every piece of the puzzle is now in the right position, and now every of you know what exactly happened that dramatic day. **

**Sincerely, I'm having a sort of block with this story, 'cause I really don't know where it's heading. **

**So, REVIEW! Any hint is welcome.**


	7. Time's perception and insensitivity

**A STRANGE TIME'S PERCEPTION AND INSENSITIVITY**

_TWO MONTHS AFTER_

Enos woke up covered in cold sweat; he took a deep breath and he looked at the clock on the night table to find out it was only 5 a.m., but his sleep was totally gone, no way to fall asleep again after that nightmare, always the same nightmare. He sat up and he stayed sitting on the bed for a while, 'till he realized it was too cold to stay like that, outside the blankets with only his pajamas on (bein' his pajamas a white short-sleeves t-shirt and a pair of black pants of an old tracksuit), his bare feet on the cold floor: it was one of the coldest winter ever (or, at least, it seemed so cold to him). He forced himself to stand up and to head to the bathroom for a hot shower, but he stopped in front of the window near the bed, looking outside where darkness still enwrapped everything, only the moonlight trying to fight against it, helped by the ice on trees' branches which reflected the light, so trees seemed a sort of ghosts in that sparkling.

The deputy shivered and he finally moved, his arms folded around his chest, to the bathroom, where he slowly undressed and he entered the shower, enjoying the hot water splashing on his body. He closed his eyes and he raised his face to the waterspout, his arms along his body, while the water's roar in his ears made him feel like if he was underwater, a feeling that usually, in the past, relaxed him. When he finally came out the shower his skin was red, like sunburned, because of the time spent under the hot water, but he still felt cold to his bones; he grabbed a large towel and he wiped himself so strongly as he was trying to rip his own skin away, then he went to the living room (he funnily called it a "living room" but it was more properly a unique room that was used for both living room, kitchen and bedroom too).

When he opened the wardrobe he looked at the mirror on the inner side of the wardrobe's door reflecting his body, and, as usual, the scars on his belly caught his eyes and made him freeze as he looked at them like hypnotized; when cold sweat started to cover him, he quickly grabbed his clothes and he dressed up, his hands still trembling when he tried to knot his tie. He walked to the couch and he sank into it, rubbing his face in frustration 'till he finally calmed down and he managed to make a perfect knot for his tie.

6 a.m. Too early for work, and, besides, did he really spend one hour to have a shower and to dress up? Lately it seemed time was joking with him, since there was a sort of mismatch between his acts and the time spent in it. Wondering 'bout time and time's perception, he closed his eyes, his back leaning against the comfortable couch, and… opening again his eyes, it was 8 a.m.

* * *

Sheriff Rosco looked at Enos practically flinging himself in their office at Police Station, his hat oblique on his ruffled hair and his breath heavy and quick, "I'm sorry sheriff, I didn't… I fell…".

Rosco raised his hand to stop him, "OK, OK Enos, no problem", no anger in his voice nor reproach, but only a bit of worrisome and somehow curiosity.

Enos stared at Rosco, his embarrass and anxiety fading away and leaving their place to something different, a mix of surprise and sadness, as he was waiting for Rosco's nagging and now he was somehow disappointed for Rosco's unusual calm.

For sure, if it had happened only two months ago, Rosco'd have really nagged at his sleepy deputy, calling him "dipstick" and asking him if he was late 'cause he was sleeping hard dreaming of Daisy Duke. But it was now, not two months ago, and a lot of things had changed in people's mind; a dramatic robbery and the nearly death of the deputy surely shocked all the town, and anyone was shocked in a different way: fears of new possible robberies (Hazzard wasn't for sure a pacific town and people was used to chases and various type of criminals, but it was the first time someone, someone so close to everyone, really risked to die, lying between life and death for several weeks on a bed at Tri-County Hospital), affection and worrisome for Enos (anyone in Hazzard loved the deputy, the only lawman to trust, and sometimes Rosco too envied Enos' huge appreciation in town). And various grades of sense of guilty: Rosco still regretted the problems he had with his car that day (so Enos had to chase the robbers all alone, to the extreme consequences); sheriff Little too (even if he wasn't properly an Hazzard's citizen) shared a similar sense of guilty with sheriff Rosco, feeling again, sometimes, on his shoulders the weight of Enos Strate's unconscious body as he was carrying him (Rosco wasn't enough built and tall for it) from that lone glade to the road's side, in order to call for help and to wait for an ambulance, since that glade wasn't achievable for a car, and obviously nor for an ambulance;… and… Daisy.

* * *

When Daisy parked her jeep at the police station it was lunchtime, and heavy clouds were covering the sky as cold blast swept Hazzard's square. She came out the jeep and she took a bag, heading to the police station, a smile on her face as she came in and she approached Enos sitting at his desk.

"Hey sugar, I hope you're very hungry, 'cause here's a lot of fried chicken for you", she leaned to him and they shared a brief kiss, their lips gently touching; Daisy sat on the desk, crossing her long legs swathed in a pair of blue jeans and boots, looking at Enos who was opening the bag, smelling it and giving her a wide smile.

"Thank you, Dais"

"There's no need to thank me, I'm your girlfriend, now, and I'm very happy to cook for you, sugar". Daisy couldn't help but smile with affection looking at him blushing shyly, the word "girlfriend" still having that effect on him, even if, in effect, they really were officially engaged since the day she confessed him her true feelings at the Hospital, and they really acted like a couple, spending a lot of time together and having Daisy taking care of Enos, even if sometimes more like a mother with her child than like a woman with her man.

"Uh, well, you seem more a mummy feeding her child. You fried so much chicken you could satisfy an army. Do you fear I could starve?", he gave one of his funny brief laugh and she kissed her again, a longer kiss than before, sweet but not shy.

"Anyway, I think I'm really hungry. Thank you"

Daisy looked at him slowly eating the fried chicken, piece by piece, finally licking his fingers and having a deep sigh of total satisfaction, something that made Daisy laugh. During the meal they talked of everything and nothing (Hazzard's gossip, weather, work, … and their wedding…. yeah, 'cause they were planning to marry in the spring, a decision they took the day Enos left the Hospital, a natural decision since Daisy finally confessed her love to him), but Daisy couldn't help but feeling him somehow distant, sometimes bein' silent and lost in his thoughts: two months had passed since that day, but Enos never talked 'bout it, nor to her nor to anyone else, what really happened that day only in his mind, and Daisy, despite her fear to hear from him what he had faced (she'd have preferred not to know anything 'bout that day, 'cause knowing it would have killed her), knew him enough to worry for his apparent total lack of desire to share with her (his nearly wife) one of his worst moments and for his apparent total insensitivity to what he had faced.

Enos saw her to the door, still thanking her for the meal, and, before she left, he hugged her and he kissed her, his arms wrapped around her chest. Daisy enjoyed his touch and his kiss, and, as usual when he kissed her, she realized how his way to touch her was different from the way of all her previous crushes, or, it'd have been better to say, he was able to awake in her feelings totally new. She slid her hands from his waist up to his shoulders, stopping between his scapulas, but he suddenly parted from her, stopping kissing her and moving his body away from her.

"Uh, Dais, it's better for you to go, now. I have a lot of work to do"

Daisy nodded and smiled, then she walked to her jeep, again that pesky feeling: he always looked for her, for her touch and for her kisses, but at the same time he seemed to push her away. She was used at their constant push and pull in the past, but this was totally different, bein' now HIM the one approaching her and then having a step back and bein' HER waiting patiently for him.

* * *

As Daisy entered the farm, uncle Jesse immediately caught her tight features.

"Something wrong, Daisy? Did Enos eat the fried chicken?"

Daisy sat at the kitchen table with a deep sigh, "Yeah, he ate it, he ate everything and he liked it very much"

"So, what's the matter?", uncle Jesse sat in front of her.

"The matter is that… well… he's too much … normal… I mean… he seems normal but I KNOW there's something wrong with him. I feel it better than anyone else, uncle Jesse, and I'm not at all quiet 'bout his way to act since he left the hospital. He refused to stay here at the farm for his convalescence, but he stayed at the Boarding House and he came back to his work immediately. And, moreover, he never talks 'bout that day or 'bout the time spent in Hospital, NEVER. And when someone asks him 'bout it, he changes the subject".

Uncle Jesse rubbed his beard, thoughtfully, "See, Daisy, you know. Enos is very prideful, and it's not the first time he… runs away… 'cause he doesn't want to worry people 'round him and he wants solve his problems all alone. He usually seems happy and somehow clumsy, but people who know him well, and we all know him very well, know 'bout his pride: he doesn't want to let people see him … weak".

"You're right, but… this time he's not running away, closing himself behind a door 'cause he doesn't want to talk 'bout something, this time he's PRETENDING nothing happened. I'd somehow accept if he told me he doesn't want to talk 'bout that day 'cause it's too painful now, and I'd wait till he's ready, but… he acts as nothing happened, avoiding everything 'bout it, and it scares me".

Uncle Jesse's hand reached Daisy's one on the table, squeezing it gently, "I think Enos is too much used to stay alone, taking care of himself, but now, with you becoming his wife, I bet he's goin' to get used to share with you his feelings… letting the door open. Give him some time"

"I hope you're right, uncle Jesse", Daisy sighed and she looked at the rain starting drumming on the window, "maybe… I'm worrying too much".

* * *

Enos looked at the rain drumming on the windscreen of his patrol car, his hands firmly on the wheel. He stopped the car and he rested his forehead on the wheel, breathing slowly and deeply. But it didn't work: that pesky nausea was still there.

In frustration he opened the door of the car and he came out, walking under the lashing rain and stopping in the middle of the road, his face up to the sky, his eyes closed and his arms along his body, his hat in his hand, the rain soaking him. He didn't even hear the car approaching.

The day after everyone in Hazzard was talking 'bout deputy Strate standing still in the middle of Mill's road, his eyes closed, his arms along his body and his hat in his hand, totally soaked under the lashing rain, and 'bout how Silas Archer, usually drunk, fortunately stopped his truck before to hit the deputy.

* * *

**OK, a step forward for this story, 'cause the part setting in the hospital was running in circle. I hope you're enjoying as the story goes by, so REVIEW! I need your reviews.**


	8. Step by step

**STEP BY STEP**

Daisy stormed in the Hazzard County Department, in her ears Mrs Abbey's voice talking 'bout Deputy Strate standing still in the middle of Mill's road, totally soaked under the lashing rain, and 'bout Silas Archer nearly hitting him with his truck.

He was there, sitting at his desk, totally concentrated on a pile of documents to the point to not even hearing Daisy entering.

"Enos Strate! What's the matter with you?"

Enos looked up from his documents to the hot-tempered woman in front of his desk, her arms folded around her chest and in her eyes a spark he knew very well.

"What's the matter? I don't know what are you talking 'bout, Dais"

Daisy sighed heavily and she leaned against his desk, her arms still folded. She shook briefly her head, looking down at the floor, "I heard 'bout a sort of shower you had yesterday in Mill's road. Everyone in Hazzard's talking 'bout it", he looked up at him, in her voice what seemed a deep anger, in her eyes again that sparkling.

"Uh. Mill's road. Well… I suppose Silas said something 'bout how he nearly hit me as he was driving his truck…yeah, he's usually drunk, so I don't know what he's sayin' exactly, but he could kill me", he chuckled.

"I'm not talking 'bout what Silas was doin', but 'bout what YOU're doin', I mean… having a shower in the middle of the road"

He smiled at her, one of his calm and innocent smiles, "A shower? Oh shucks, Dais. I swear I wasn't standing naked in the middle of the road, but I was totally dressed. Silas drinks too much".

Daisy forced herself not to blush driven in thoughts she couldn't indulge in now. He was on the defensive, and she knew Enos enough to understand she had to change her tone, 'cause, even if she was totally scared and worried, it now seemed she was mad at him, and it wasn't the first time her worrisome seemed anger because of her impulsiveness. And Enos, when he didn't want to talk 'bout or to face something, had two ways of running away from it: he LITERALLY run away, or he used that exasperating capability to be like a sort of rubber's wall, everything bounding back subdued and somehow deformed, especially what people's anger (nobody in Hazzard could say he's ever had a real fight with Enos Strate).

Again a deep sigh, and Daisy put gently a hand on his large shoulder, her arms no more folded, her voice now sweet and like a whisper, "Enos, sugar, I'm worrying 'bout you. Why did you stand there, under the rain? Did you feel sick? Is something worrying you?"

He looked away from her, his eyes on the documents on his desk, "I'm fine, Daisy. There's nothing to worry 'bout"

"Are you sure?", Daisy eyes looked for his ones, useless.

"I'm sure. It's that… I was driving and I felt sick, so I came out the car to have some… fresh. I mean, not that it wasn't fresh, it's winter, but I needed some fresh air, but… well, it was raining, so I had not only air", he briefly looked at her, then again at the documents in his hands.

"Enos… please", she was disappointed and exasperated, she hated when she tried to talk seriously to him and he turned to be that rubber wall rebounding her worrisome, and sometimes anger, deformed into something weird. Sometimes it made her laugh and her worrisome or anger disappeared (and Enos was for sure one of the few person who could face Daisy's hot-tempered character, simply 'cause he didn't go against it, it'd be a lost fight, but he subdued it), but sometimes it really exasperated her. And when he finally felt her exasperation, he usually faced her, 'cause upsetting Daisy was the last thing Enos Strate could (and wanted to) do.

"OK, see, Dais… I'm a bit … weak, I mean, since I came out the Hospital. I thought I was feeling better, but I… maybe I made I mistake to come back to work soon. It's nothing to worry for. I was feeling sick, yesterday, that's all. But now I'm fine"

Daisy was not at all satisfied of his answer, he felt there was something more, but it was a little admission from him (the little admission he didn't feel so well as he pretended to), and, actually, she had to be content with it, bein' patient and waiting for other admissions: Daisy knew how many patience she needed to come closer and closer to someone like Enos Strate.

"OK, Enos. I think you need something really nourishing to eat. What do you think if I come to the Boarding House this evening and I cook beef stew for you? I know you like it, don't you?", Another little step toward him, her hand gently squeezing his shoulder and a sweet smile on her face.

"Beef stew. Possum on a gum bush, Daisy, it'd be great. Having dinner with you at the Boarding House… and… what a dinner. Thanks, but… what 'bout uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke? No beef stew for them?", one of his wide and happy smile lighted up his face when he heard 'bout beef stew, the same way a child thinks of a chocolate's cake, and Daisy's heart stirred. Enos had always been someone looking for and enjoying simple pleasures of life, and simple life's pleasures are usually the shelter of complicated people.

"Oh sugar. I'm goin' to be your wife, so uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke have to get used to me preparing dinner for someone else". She gave a brief and happy laugh and she hugged him, her arms wrapped around his waist, her face resting in the crook under his collarbone; he was taller than her, and during the last months she's learned how her face perfectly fitted in that place, where she could smell his scent and she could felt his heartbeat.

Enos inhaled her shampoo scent, closing his eyes and finally moving his arms, still along his body, to her hips. Every time Daisy came so close to him he felt like it was dream, a beautiful dream. Daisy raised her face to him and she kissed him, standing on her tiptoes. Enos felt her soft lips pressing on his ones, and, his eyes closed, he let the kiss becoming deeper and deeper, feeling relieved as she was somehow driving away all the darkness in him; she could save him, he felt it, 'till a blade sparkled in his darkness and he abruptly stopped the kiss, moving her away from him and keeping her at arm length.

"Uh, Dais, I'm on duty right now. If Rosco or Mr Boss sees us now, well… It'd drive them mad"

A terrible excuse, but Daisy stayed calm, _"Step by step, be patient Daisy and don't try to have Enos up against the wall"_.

"OK, you're right. But I like to drive Boss and Rosco mad. Anyway, I'm goin' to buy what I need for our dinner, 'cause I supposed I can't rely on what you've in your fridge", she smiled. "_No, it's not OK at all, but I now pretend everything's OK. Step by step, Daisy. Now you have to find a way to stay with him the more as possible. That day at the hospital you've promised to yourself you're goin' to take care of him". _

He laughed, "No, you should be a witch to manage to cook something you can call a dinner using what I've in my fridge. But…", he took his wallet and he gave her some bills, "I can't let you do shopping for me. It's not fair, and…", he took a key from his trousers' pocket, "you could go at the Boarding House, if you want to, and wait for me there 'till the stew is ready. You'd need a lot of time to cook it, I suppose".

"Thank you Enos, but", Daisy took the bills in his hand, carefully, "are you sure? There's no need to…".

"I'm goin' to be your husband, and my money is your money", he blushed and he smiled shyly, "and… I think you should have a copy of the key".

"OK, Enos, thanks. See you later". Having the key of his apartment at the Boarding House was pretty easy, she didn't even need to ask him using the excuse of the stew's cooking time but it came naturally from him, but Daisy knew that having the key of Enos' deep soul would have been for sure more difficult.

* * *

As the last sunbeams lighted the winter's blue deep sky, giving it a red nuance before the sunset, Enos stopped in front the Bank's window looking at the blue figure reflected in it, a strange feeling overwhelming him, the feeling that man in uniform wasn't him: he looked at his figure reflected by the glass wondering how it was possible his external features were the same as two months ago whereas he felt totally different. A really strange feeling, something waking in him dizziness and nausea.

"Hey, put your hands away from me!"

The woman's voice reached him in that sort of dream and he turned to see Maryanne Connor, the young confectioner, trying to free herself from a man who's grabbing her wrist.

"I've just said you I don't want to come with you at…"

"Something's wrong with him, Miss Connor?"

The man looked at the tall cop approaching him and the woman, and Enos noticed he was totally drunk and… he was a stranger.

"I'm trying to explain this man I don't want to go at the Boar's Nest with him, deputy Strate. But it seems he's too drunk to understand what I'm saying"

"Come on. You were so kind to me when I came to the bakery this morning. I'm only inviting you to have some drinks with me, to thank you", the man's voice was petulant (as a voice of someone drunk could be) and it showed a bit of anger.

"I simply did my job bein' kind with my customers, but it didn't mean you could come at the bakery dragging me with you for a date. And stop clasping my wrist, it hurts".

Enos sighed, he grabbed the man's wrist and he squeezed it, with not much strength (not his major strength, anyway) but enough to free Maryanne's wrist from the man grasp, "Miss Connor is telling you're hurting her"

Finally free, Miss Connor took a deep breath, thanking the deputy.

But the man wasn't happy 'bout his date gone, and he was too much drunk to understand it was a really bad move to try to hit a cop, and especially a cop so well built. He raised his fist but, before even to realize it, he was on the ground, his nose spurting blood.

Few minutes after sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, waiting for his deputy coming back from the bank with Boss' money, saw instead Enos Strate dragging that man, his face bloody, inside the Hazzard Police Department and then down the stairs to the cells, closing angrily the cell's door behind him.

"Enos, what's happening? Who's that man?"

With that man finally at the other side of the bars, Enos had a deep sigh and then he turned to his sheriff, "He's drunk, and he's annoying Miss Connor"

Rosco looked briefly at the scared and bloody man behind the bars, "Enos, if we start to arrest every drunk man annoying women out there, we'll have all cells full".

Enos took his hat off and he scratched his head, something very unusual for him, "I can't wait him to do something worse before to arrest him, sheriff", then he rested his back against the bars, in his eyes the doubt 'bout what he just did.

A shadow crossed Rosco's face, "Enos, I think you need to come home and have some rest".

Enos blushed knowing Rosco was right; he just made a mistake and he felt ashamed and angry to himself, "OK, sheriff".

His head down, Enos headed to the Boarding House, the sun already gone, at its place a dark and cold night. The day after for sure everyone in Hazzard would have talked 'bout an angry deputy Strate knocking out with a strong punch a drunk stranger instead of using his usual calm and good manners to convince the stranger to let Miss Connor free, stopping the man's fist simply grabbing it, as he usually did, and keeping on smiling and scolding the man as he was a spoiled child. Everyone would have talked of him having a sort of breaking down, and his pride couldn't stand that kind of town's gossip, the same way it wouldn't have stood the gossip of Daisy marrying him only to protect him from goin' to jail in a time it seemed so distant to him, a life ago.

He tried to relax thinking of Daisy waiting for him at the Boarding House and cooking beef stew. He remembered her hand squeezing his one, his first feeling after the darkness when he first woke up in the Hospital, and her lips gently kissing his forehead; he could recognize that touch everywhere, her hand perfectly fitting in his palm, and even now, in the cold and dark night, he could feel that warmth in his palm. Daisy Duke was the only one who could save him from breaking down, but he also knew his pride wasn't goin' to make things easy.

* * *

**REVIEW, REVIEW AND REVIEW! Are you waiting for the coming night at the Boarding House? What's goin' to happen? Is Enos goin' to put his pride away and to talk to Daisy 'bout all his confusion and desperation? Or is he goin' to run away? Stay tuned.**


	9. A wall's crumbling

**A WALL'S CRUMBLING**

At the Boarding House, sitting on the couch as the stew was simmering, Daisy was waiting for Enos. She slowly looked around the little room, a totally anonymous room except for her pictures stuck on the mirror's dresser (she didn't notice them the night she stayed there the year before, when the Nervous was after her) and some baseball's trophies, the room of a man used to loneliness. She stood up and she came closer to the dresser, looking at the pictures on the mirror, a sweet smile on her face: she and Enos at the airport the day he left Hazzard to be a cop in Los Angeles (she was wearing a pretty white dress and she was hugging him; she remembered his embarrass when she asked to a woman there to take a picture of them, so, in that picture, she smiled at that occasional photographer as he looked away), some pictures of her in L.A. when she was there to drive in the Baja Auto Race, her with a horse, her with a big straw hat, her on a plane as she was learning to pilot it (she remembered Darcy with remorse, not remorse toward Darcy but remorse toward Enos), her, her and only her. She looked away, a sense of guilty winning over her as she thought of Enos collecting those pictures of her and looking them every day (the only apparent bond with the world around him besides his work) whereas she wandered from a shallow man to another shallow man.

As the door opened, Daisy remembered herself that her wandering was finally over and she was starting a new life by Enos' side, she smiled and she walked to him, but her smile faded when she looked carefully at him.

"Enos! What's happened?"

Enos stared at her, surprised, "What?"

"Your shirt. There's blood on your shirt!", Daisy started to panic, the last thing she wanted to see bein' blood on his uniform. Even if, fortunately, she didn't see his bloody uniform that day, it's come to visit her many times in her nightmares, so she wondered if it was worse to have to imagine it, night by night, or to have seen it ('cause sometimes imagining could be a lot worse than seeing); that day, when Rosco and sheriff Little found him, was he crying? Was he moaning? Was he staring at the sky in shock? Or was he simply unconscious? How much blood was there on his uniform? How deep was that wound? What did he feel when Ewan stabbed him? Did he shout? Did he ask for help or did he pray Ewan to stop? Did he remember the ambulance's coming? Did he understand he could die? Questions suspended in Daisy's mind since that day, questions she wanted to ask (Rosco and sheriff Little could answer to a lot of those questions, but only Enos could answer to some of them) but she was too much scared to know answers, and, besides, it was nearly impossible to push Enos to talk 'bout something so dramatic and painful. But, in her nightmares (and imagining) she saw all those possible answers, and it was ravaging.

"Uh? Blood?". There was blood on his right sleeve (not in large amount, anyway), and some small tears of blood scattered here and there on his shirt. The blood of the stranger he arrested. "Oh, well, don't worry. It's not mine; I had a sort of fight but I'm fine".

Daisy sighed in relief, then her voice took a pitch of anger, "I hope Bo, Luke and Cooter didn't drag you in a brawl at the Boar's Nest".

"No brawl at the Boar's Nest", he started to undress his tie heading to the wardrobe, he took from it a plaid red shirt (the one she wore that night the year before) and a pair of blue jeans and then he walked to the bathroom, as he was anxious to take that bloody shirt off. The bathroom door's closed behind him without any further word from him, especially no explanation 'bout that blood's origin.

"Enos, sugar, are you OK?"

His voice came muffled behind the door, "I'm OK, don't worry. It's only police business. Nobody is really hurt, anyway".

"_Don't worry". _Daisy hated when he told her there was nothing to worry for: the more Enos Strate said there was nothing to worry for, the more she knew she had to worry. His exasperated and exasperating pride always brought him to face his problems all by himself, pushing away people around him: he had no problem to play the fool in front of people ('cause, in effect, people knew, and HE knew, he wasn't fool at all, and he could prove it, to people and to himself, anytime he wanted to), but there was no way he let people see him defeated, angry, sad or tired (all his deep emotions perfectly hidden behind the wall he'd built between himself and the world, and this wall had usually the form a wide smile, and sometimes the form of … a simple and real door). Daisy took a deep sigh and she folded her arms around his waist, waiting for him.

Trying to control his hands' trembling the same way he could control his voice, Enos took his uniform off, he wore the red shirt and the pair of blue jeans and he washed his face. He closed his eyes and he concentrated on the stew's scent, the stew Daisy was cooking for him.

"_Enos, you're at the Boarding House with Daisy, the woman you've always loved and who's goin' to be your wife. Have a nice dinner and enjoy this moment"._ He looked at his tight features reflected in the mirror and he decided to come out the bathroom when his features finally relaxed thanks of the stew's scent, and thanks of the thought of Daisy's waiting for him at the other side of the door.

* * *

Sitting at the little table, bit by bit, Enos started to enjoy the dinner, a well known taste warming up his stomach and his mind: he could recognize thyme, celery, onion (every spice in it), and beef was so tender it almost melted in his mouth. The dark mud gripping his stomach slowly disappeared, and for a while he thought he could go ahead, step by step, keeping on living and enjoying life's little moments, leaving all the darkness behind him; was it the way to come out the darkness, simply keeping on living, step by step? Since the day he woke up in the Hospital, he wondered if he could toss that dark mud outside him by talking 'bout how he felt, talking 'bout that day; but, when he tried to talk 'bout it, the mud became even more dark and heavy, pressing on his stomach as it didn't want to come out, making him feeling sick and giving him chills. Had he to keep that darkness inside him, waiting for its spontaneous leaving and trying to keep on with his usual life, step by step? Or had he to talk 'bout it, forcing it outside him?

He looked at Daisy in front of him. They were all alone at the Boarding House. Was it the time to have a try and talk to her, letting all his despair come out? But, what could she think of his breakdown? How could she react to see him totally defeated? And, what exactly telling her? Everything 'bout that day? Also what Ewan whispered in his ear after he stabbed him? And, were Ewan's words real or was it a nightmare? What did exactly hurt him more?

He opened his mouth, ready to that attempt, but the sad, dusky and nagging part of him was glaring at him. The mud came back and it gave a kick to his stomach.

"You're a great cook, Dais. It was really good, as anything you cook". He smiled at her, his attempt poorly failed.

"I'm really glad you liked it, sugar. And now, while I clear the table, relax. Read a comic, watch the TV, or sleep a bit". She touched gently his arm as he started to take the plates from the table, helping her, "Come on, Enos. Have some rest and let me clear".

"OK, thanks Daisy". He sat on the couch and he stretched, yawning and trying to follow Daisy's order: relax. He needed to find again that shiny and tiny hope of a quiet and peaceful life. Step by step.

He stared at her moving in the little room, stunned by her charm and her sweetness as she was radiating a soft and calming light all around her, and he felt again that warming hope. He looked at her long legs in a pair of fitting blue jeans, her checked rose shirt (it was winter, so he had to be content of her shirts instead of her summer low-necked and sleeveless t-shirts), her curly and brown hair; he gave a deep sigh looking away from her, thinking it was too risky to think of her body as they were all alone in his little apartment, and, looking all around the room in order not to stare at her, he started as he saw all those pictures of her on his dresser's mirror: did she see them? What did she think of? A year ago he managed to hide them, but not this time. He gave another deep sigh: it was now too late to hide them. He stood up and he tried to ease his embarrass turning the little TV on, then he laid down on his bed, watching the news.

He needed some time, like he was in a dream (or, rather, in a nightmare) to understand what he was exactly watching and what he was hearing. He felt Daisy's hand reaching his one and his breath becoming quicker and quicker as he stared at the pictures running on the TV's screen, pictures of three cops (one of them, Andy Flanagan, an old picture of him in his uniform) as the speaker talked 'bout a dramatic bank's robbery in Crisp County leaving three cops on the ground, killed in the line of duty; he looked in shock at the faces of Ewan McCoy and his partner in crime left (the third of them killed in the robbery), now wanted people in all Georgia (and U.S.), and he listened to the speaker talking 'bout their previous robberies and the blood's wake behind him. He started to tremble as Daisy called him, her voice muffled as it came from behind a thick wall. Without even realizing it, he found himself lying down on the bed on his right side, his face buried in Daisy's chest as she hugged him, the TV turned off.

Daisy kept him close to her, her arms wrapped around his chest, his face buried in her chest as he shivered, unable to talk. She could feel his warm breath against her chest as he breathed quickly, and she started to panic. Was it a breakdown? Had she to call Doc Appleby, or uncle Jesse? And would his pride have stood other bystanders besides her? Or, maybe, was she the only bystander his pride didn't want to be there? Stay with him or call for help?

He pressed his face against his chest and he curled up against her, as a child with his mother, and she knew what she had to do. She started to caress his hair and to repeat him to stay calm, in a whisper, 'till she felt him relaxing and his breath becoming slow and regular: he was finally falling asleep, as his energy was totally over after all that shivering.

She stayed there, Enos sleeping in her arms, finally realizing what's just happened: Andy Flanagan was dead, and other two cops too, along with one of Ewan's gang. Andy Flanagan, the man she'd known at the hospital, the cop Ewan had stabbed several years before, the cop now dead while he was chasing Ewan, obsessed by that man and by that stabbing.

"_You could say you're the one who wants it more than anyone else only if you had ever felt a blade entering your belly. I felt it, and I won't forget it, never, and deputy Strate too is goin' to feel it, again and again, and you're somehow part of it"._

Daisy started to cry silently, not even knowing if she was crying for Andy Flanagan, for Enos (did he really feel that blade entering his belly, again and again, as Andy?) or for herself (that old part of her bringing her in Ewan's arms). Since she was part of it (her previous crush on Ewan now seemed to her even more creepy and shocking), was she the best one to help Enos out of it?

Daisy cried all her tears while Enos, emotionally exhausted, was sleeping in her arms. Then, finally, she fell asleep, a sleep disturbed by the ghost of Andy Flanagan and of the oldest and immature part of her, the part who ruined her life and Enos' one, the part she managed to kick away… too late.

* * *

**OK, I know, at Enos' place there wasn't any TV, but I needed it, LOL, so I decided he had a TV. Simple.** **Thanks for all your reviews ;-)**


	10. Phone calls at the Boarding House

**PHONE CALLS AT THE BOARDING HOUSE**

The sunlight was entering the window when Daisy slowly woke up; Enos' regular and deep breath lulling her as he slept, his face still buried in her chest and her arms wrapped around his waist, Daisy looked at the clock on the night table.

8 a.m.

Enos'd have already been at work at that time. Had she to wake him up? Thinking at the night before with a shiver, the picture of Andy Flanagan stuck in her head torturing her, she decided to stand up: she had to dispel that poisonous deadness diving in any day activity. She slowly moved away from Enos in order to let him sleep; since he kept on sleeping so deeply, she decided he probably needed that sleep to recover probably from a long wake and from a huge distress. Besides, he seemed quiet and peaceful: she'd have woken him up if she had seen him flounder during his sleeping.

8.15 a.m.

Daisy headed to the phone, she took the receiver on dialing a number and she waited for an answer, her eyes on Enos.

"Rosco, this is Daisy Duke speaking"

A pause.

"I'm at Enos'. He can't work today, it's better for him to have some rest", she nervously coiled the phone's wire around a finger, her eyes down at the floor.

"Yeah. I watched the news, and Enos too. It's why…", her heart started beating faster and faster, the receiver pressed against her ear.

"I don't know if he's right. He's sleeping right now, but yesterday… No, I think he's not right at all, Rosco. He needs some rest, I think he's not able to work right now".

On the bed, Enos rolled on his back keeping on sleeping, and Daisy looked at him, his chest going up and down as he breathed regularly. In Daisy's mind suddenly his figure changed to the one she was used to see at the Hospital, the paler version of him, the bruises scattered on his bare chest and arms, a liquid slowly entering his vein through a drip; Daisy closed her eyes fighting with a rush of nausea, but, fortunately, when she opened her eyes again, he was there, on his bed at the Boarding House, his red checked shirt and his blue jeans on.

"WHAT?", Daisy's voice raised as she opened her eyes wide. A short moaning from Enos made her hold her breath, her knuckles turning pale as she gripped the receiver, listening silently to Rosco.

"Did he really beat that stranger up? Enos? But… it's not the kind of…", there's no need to go on; Enos wasn't OK at all, she knew it, Rosco knew it, and probably Enos knew it too, even if, as usual, he pretended everything was OK. She thought of that blood on his uniform, and of his way to dodge her questions 'bout it, and how Enos could be the "king of dodging" things he didn't want to talk 'bout.

"OK, thank you, Rosco. Yeah, I'm goin' to take care of him". She put the receiver down with a sigh and she looked carefully at Enos.

She had a deep breath, she took the phone's receiver on again and she dialed the farm's number, waiting for uncle Jesse's voice. She had to explain him 'bout the night spent at Enos': uncle Jesse knew she was goin' to have dinner with Enos at the Boarding House, but her staying there for the night wasn't planned, and, even if uncle Jesse trusted Enos (in effect, last night, no uncle Jesse nor her cousins came to check everything was OK, nor they called her, whereas they'd have acted pretty different if she had been with someone else), she had to tell him everything.

* * *

When the phone rang at the farm, uncle Jesse already knew who's calling.

"Hi Daisy, everything's OK?"

Bo and Luke entered the living room as they heard uncle Jesse answering the phone, they sat on the couch and they looked silently at him.

"Yeah. The news. We know", a worried looked rebounded from uncle Jesse to his nephews.

"How's Enos?", uncle Jesse scratched thoughtfully his beard, his look on his nephews.

"Don't worry, Dais. When we heard the news, yesterday evening, well, we were wondering if we had to check everything was OK at the Boarding House, but we knew that if you or Enos had needed some help, you'd have called us, so we decided to wait instead of making things more… complicated… you know". There was no need to tell Daisy she could take care of Enos better than anyone else, and uncle Jesse knew Enos enough to wonder if their presence at the Boarding House in such a moment would have been helpful, useless or… even worse.

Bo and Luke exchanged a knowing look; the three Dukes men know very well Enos' pride besides his apparent shyness and clumsiness, and his way to pretend everything was OK, any time, bein' Daisy the only one really able to get over all his resistances, and even Daisy having sometimes some difficulties in it. Their presence at the Boarding House, last evening, could have been more a restraint than a help to Enos letting his emotions out, and they knew it, so deciding, even if they're worried for both of them, to stay at the farm waiting for a call for help from Daisy if she needed it.

"OK, Daisy. Let him sleep 'till he needs it. And stay there with him 'till he wakes up. Then, ask him to come to the farm for a while".

Uncle Jesse had a deep sigh while, on the couch, Bo and Luke were shaking their head.

"Yeah, I know, but… have at least a try. You are the only one who can convince him".

Bo looked at Luke smiling, a both amused and tender smile, holding all their memories 'bout Daisy convincing Enos to do what she (and they) wanted him to do.

"WHAT?", uncle Jesse's voice suddenly resounded in the living room, making Bo and Luke start.

"Did he really beat that man up, punching him and breaking his nose? Enos? OK, OK Daisy. But… If you need help, call us, and… call Doc Appleby"

* * *

Daisy spent her time at the Boarding House to do the cleaning, even if there was no need at all: the apartment was very small and already neat since Enos didn't spend much time in it, and, despite his bein' so clumsy and sometimes such a bungler, he was very tidy and thorough. Sometimes she stopped and she sat on the bed near Enos, looking at him and wondering if it was safe and normal to sleep so deeply and so long, but he seemed so quiet she preferred to let him sleep how much he needed to; the more he slept, the less he had to face Andy Flanagan's death and the news 'bout Ewan McCoy.

* * *

In the dark and cold room Enos looked in shock at Andy Flanagan's telling him Ewan McCoy had stabbed him several years ago, and so, since then, he was after him, day by day and robbery after robbery. Enos wanted to ask that cop how he felt that day, why he wasn't able to defend himself, if Ewan whispered something in his ear while he was stabbing him, how much time he needed to recover, if he dreamt of that day even now; all these questions crowded in his mind but he could ask nothing, a dark and viscid mud goin' up and down from his stomach to his mouth, preventing him to talk. He closed his eyes and he tried to relax: breath in and breath out, breath in and breath out, it was the only body's function he could control, bein' his voice off and his movements too.

When he opened again his eyes he was looking at a cloudy sky (where was the ceiling of the room?) and a pesky and lashing rain was entering his nose and his mouth, so even his only body's function left, breath in and breath now, was now hard. His body was heavy, and he was lying on the ground on his back; he could smell the wet soil around him, and he could feel the viscid mud under the grass. It was cold, and his uniform was totally soaked so that coldness was moving from his skin to his bones. He tried again to move, rolling on his belly, but it was useless; he couldn't even move a finger.

A shiver of fear rose all over his spine to his nape as he saw a black figure sitting astride on his lap, its all weight on him as he subsided into the mud under him: was it a woman or a man? The figure pressed its knees against his waist, and his breath became more and more difficult. He wanted to shout, but he couldn't.

The black shadow leaned over him, its fetid and cold breath entering his ear and reaching his mind, freezing it in terror. Its left hand grabbed his right wrist, a strong and icy grip stopping his desperate effort to move his arm to reach his gun.

Then, a blade, firmly in its right hand, sparkled in the darkness.

* * *

4 p.m.

Daisy looked at the clock and she sank into the couch, exhausted after all that (useless) cleaning; she looked around at the little room were everything was tidy (almost sparkling) and smelled clean… like before her cleaning. She didn't even have lunch, except for a cup of tea: the only idea to eat something disgusted her. Staring at Enos still sleeping, Daisy wondered if she had to follow his example and to try to sleep for a couple of hours, or even more, maybe 'till tomorrow morning.

Sleeping on his back, Enos filled almost all the bed, a very small bed, just for his size; the previous night they managed to sleep together in that bed only because they were lying down on their side, face to face (or, it was better to say, Enos' face to Daisy's chest). Now, the only place left for Daisy was the bed's part near the wall, where Daisy could curl up against him trying to fall asleep, lulled by his scent and his breath, whereas, for sure, she couldn't fall asleep on the couch, away from him.

Placing her right leg on his left side in order to cling over him and to reach the place of the bed near the wall, Daisy found herself sitting astride on Enos' lap, a compromising position if someone would have seen them in that moment, but there was no malice in it, it wasn't time for malice now, and Daisy, indulging in that position, regretted every time she flirted with Enos, coming closer to him, touching him in her malicious way and making him blush; they were goin' to be husband and wife, she knew it and she was really happy for it, and their way to look for each other and to approach physically was now more natural and easier, more mature and serious, but, anyway, she regretted their joking innocently of their past days, dramatically lost after that day, lost after she decided to date someone like Ewan only to have a try and to better understand her feelings for Enos, lost after it brought to Enos' nearly dying. How immature and fool she'd been, Andy was right; thinking of Andy Flanagan, again, made Daisy feeling sick, her mind remembering her the days at the Hospital, and how Enos could had been one of the cop died in a robbery because of Ewan and his gang, Enos' picture overlapping on Flanagan's one in imaginary news running on her mind's screen.

Enos moaned moving slowly, his right arm sliding outside the bed; Daisy, still sitting astride on his lap, automatically leaned over him, her left hand reaching his dangling right arm and gently grabbing his wrist, her voice whispering his name in his ear, the same whispering she used the previous night to calm him down.

But it didn't work.

Enos suddenly opened his eyes, looking in confusion and fear at the figure sitting astride on his lap, he shouted and he pushed it away from him. Sitting on his bed, his breath quick and his skin all covered in cold sweat, he finally looked down at Daisy on the floor, realizing that, fortunately, he only had a nightmare, but, unfortunately, he really hit Daisy.

Shocked and worried, Enos knelt down near Daisy lying on the floor, his mouth so dry he could barely talk, "Daisy, I… I'm sorry. How are you?"

Daisy sat up, her left cheek red and aching after its meeting with the floor, "Enos, sugar, I hope you're not goin' to kick me out of bed every night after our wedding. It's very dangerous to sleep by your side". Realizing the fear in his eyes, and remembering his look, totally terrified, when he woke up, she tried to play down and to smile, in order to calm him: it wasn't the case to upset him more than he already was, more than SHE already was.

"I… I had a nightmare, Daisy, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you, I swear".

She could feel all his pain in his words. She looked into his eyes, "Enos, I know you'd never hurt me on purpose. So, what's your nightmare was 'bout?". She held her breath; a dangerous and direct question, he could answer it but he could also dodge it.

"I… a nightmare I've already had. I was in that glade, and, someone… a dark shadow… was sitting astride on me, so I couldn't move. Then, I saw a blade sparkling in the dark. When I woke up, you were…", he blushed, "… I'm sorry".

Hiding her blushing, Daisy sighed in relief; he wasn't avoiding her question, maybe she was finally goin' to force her way through his protective shell.

"And… this nightmare remembers you 'bout…", step by step, she was gingerly moving through that gap; he was still a bit sleepy, and maybe his defenses were temporary down.

"Uh? I… well… that day…"

The phone rang in the little apartment, waking Enos up from that state of guard's lowering, and Daisy, bothered by that unwelcome suspension, bit her lower lip, as Enos stood up heading to the phone.

"This is Enos Strate's speakin'"

A deep silence filled the room as Enos, the receiver pressed against his ear, became pale.

* * *

**Thank you for ALL your reviews (especially WENN and Enos'sGal); I hope you're enjoying this story. 'Bout the last phone call at the Boarding House, be patient 'till the next chapter.**


	11. Why? Why? WHY?

**Why? Why? WHY?**

After a long silence, Enos finally spoke, "OK, Sheriff, I'm coming". Daisy's curious and worried eyes on him, he put the receiver down, he walked to his wardrobe, he opened it and he glanced at the clock, suddenly freezing; on his face Daisy could see all his confusion.

"Is it already so clear outside, so early in the morning?". Looking carefully outside the window, where a soft red nuance were starting to color the sky, the characteristic nuance of sunset, and looking again at the clock, Enos, in shock, realized it wasn't 4.15 in the morning as he initially thought, but it was 4.15 P.M. He turned to Daisy, "Did I really slept till… NOW?… And… what 'bout my shift?"

Daisy, still sitting on the floor after he knocked her off the bed, slowly stood up and she came closer to him, touching gently his forearm, "I let you sleep since you seemed to need to, and, this morning, I called Rosco, so there's no problem 'bout your shift. Rosco gave you a day off, and… if you need other days off, sugar, well, he's goin' to…"

"I don't need any day off, Dais. You should have woken me up… anyway, instead of taking any decision for me", he briefly shook his head looking at the floor, in his voce and in his features no sign of reproach or rage, but only embarrass mixed with sadness and disappointment.

Daisy swallowed against the lump in her throat; only few minutes before he was finally goin' to let his emotions out, and now, his pride hurt (in HIS wry way of thinking), he was again pushing her away, especially after that call. The call, Rosco: why did he call Enos after giving him a day off? What's happening?

Daisy looked at Enos starting to unbutton his shirt in front of the open wardrobe, then, realizing he wasn't alone in the room, he grabbed a clean uniform and he entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him and coming out only few minutes after, heading to the apartment's door, his uniform on and his hair a bit damp on his forehead after he splashed cold water on his face in order to wake completely up after that long sleep.

"Enos… what's happening?". Daisy walked behind him to the door.

"Police business. Don't worry. You should come back to the farm before the night comes", he turned to her, "Uh… Dais, thanks for the dinner, I really appreciated it, even if last evening wasn't so… happy. Thanks, for everything", he smiled sadly and he walked down the stairs, Daisy still following him.

Police business? Don't worry? Why? Why? WHY? Daisy was feeling her heart was goin' to burst: few minutes ago she was so close to him, and now he was goin' to increase their distance again with that old story 'bout "police business" and "don't worry". And, above all, what's happened? She looked at him walking to his patrol car parked in front the Boarding House, entering it without any look back at her, and driving away.

In the middle of the sidewalk, Daisy looked at his patrol car going away, a mix of rage and worrisome overwhelming her, then she reached her jeep and she took the C.B. on to call uncle Jesse and the boys. It was time to ask for their help.

* * *

In the patrol car, Enos' heart was in turmoil.

Why? Why? WHY? Only few minutes ago he was finally goin' to let all his emotions out, trying to kick away that dark mud inside him, a mud even more viscous and heavy after he saw the news (suddenly, the thought of Andy Flanagan's and Ewan McCoy's pictures on T.V.'s screen provoked him a rush of nausea so strong he barely managed to keep on driving instead of stopping the car and vomiting), a mud that pushed him even to hurt Daisy (not on purpose, obviously, but he hit her, and it was goin' to drive him crazy), and now… Why now? And why that? He erased all his thoughts from his mind, driving his patrol car like if he was in a trance, and he woke up from this trance only when he entered the Courthouse.

Mr and Mrs Connor, Maryanne's parents, were there, Rosco in front of them.

"Do you think that man…?", Mr Connor's voice cracked.

Rosco seemed relieved as Enos came closer them. Even if there was no need, but as he was trying to recollect his ideas or to take time for thinking, Rosco repeated to Enos the same things he told him by phone.

"MaryAnne Connor came out her house to go to the bakery early in the morning, at 5 a.m., as she usually does when she works in the morning, and she stayed at the bakery 'till 2 p.m., when she finished her morning's shift. She usually comes home after she leaves the bakery, and her colleague Katie, who started to work at 2 p.m., told Mr and Mrs Connor MaryAnne left the bakery telling her she was goin' home to have a nap, but she's not arrived at home, yet. Her home it's only few minutes from the bakery by walking, so it's pretty strange. It was two hours ago, and, if she had decided to spend some time anywhere instead of coming back home, she'd have called her parents".

Enos listened, again, to Rosco's serious and professional voice, so different from usual. And, in effect, it was something pretty different from usual since a young lady seemed missed, a girl only the day before a stranger molested, a stranger Enos beat up and arrested, a stranger Rosco decided to let free the same evening Enos arrested him after he saw his deputy so angry and so totally … beside himself. Enos clenched his fists: how did he make such a mistake? Why didn't he ask the stranger's complete personal details controlling his I.D. when he arrested him? Why didn't he check him out to know if he had some criminal record? WHY didn't he use correctly police's procedures, instead of beating him up, dragging him to the cell and then… simply goin' home? And now, MaryAnne Connor was missed, maybe because of that man, a man whose they didn't even know the name, a man whom Rosco let free because of Enos' mistakes in arresting procedures. Enos wanted only to cry: HE was paying because of his previous errors (his shallowness 'bout Ewan and his friends when he had to be more strong and more sure 'bout his doubts instead of letting things go day by day in order not to hurt Daisy's feelings), Andy Flanagan and two other cops paid with their life because of him (if only he had arrested Ewan, or if he had better kept an eye on him when he had started to doubt 'bout him, even, or especially, if Daisy was dating him), Daisy could have paid for his errors if only Ewan had decided to use her during the robbery (maybe like a hostage) and now there was another person paying for him, and he was totally devastated. He thought that, somehow, he deserved all that pain, all that mud and all his nightmares.

* * *

First step: searching for any useful information.

Putting aside his confused and dark emotions, Enos walked to the bakery to talk to Katie McGuire, the last person who saw MaryAnne Connor. Connors told Rosco 'bout MaryAnne leaving the bakery at 2 p.m. 'cause it was what Katie told them; but Enos couldn't be content of something reported by others, he had to go to the source.

"_I'm still a cop, and actually I can't make any other error",_ with these words in his mind Enos entered the bakery, heading to the counter. The scent of fresh bread, cakes and cookies he usually loved was now totally disgusting for him, despite he had his last meal nearly 24 hours before.

Behind the counter, Katie McGuire, a young and blonde girl, nearly 21 years old, looked at him with a mix of expectation and fear, "Did you find her?"

Enos shook his head, then he took a little notebook and a pen from his shirt's pocket, "I'm sorry to bother you, Katie… ehm… Miss McGuire, but I have to ask you something 'bout MaryAnne. You have only to tell me what you exactly said to Connors, and I'm goin' to ask you something more, OK?". His voice calm, a kind smile on his face, he tried to relax Katie, her scared blue eyes wide open as she stared at him,and to put her at ease in order to know any useful detail.

Katie answered all his questions, but, at the end, he knew nothing more he already knew: MaryAnne left the bakery at 2 P.M., she told Katie she was goin' home for a nap, nobody was in the bakery at that time nor outside the bakery waiting for MaryAnne (or, at least, Katie didn't see anybody), MaryAnne seemed calm and happy (she didn't talk to Katie 'bout any stranger in the morning bothering her).

"Did MaryAnne talk to you 'bout yesterday evening? 'bout that stranger?". It was time to go back to the previous day.

Katie nodded, "She told me he was a stranger, yeah, she didn't ever seen him nor she knew his name; he came to the bakery in the morning, to buy some fresh bread, and then he came back in the evening, drunk, trying to drag MaryAnne at the Boar's Nest, and then you saved her from him". A gentle touch of red covered Katie's cheeks, and Enos wondered if she was embarrassed to talk to him 'bout his break down; for sure MaryAnne told her 'bout his rough way to "save" her. He cleared his throat, and he kept on writing on his notebook, Katie's eyes on him.

Katie couldn't help but remember with a sting of sadness MaryAnne's sparkling eyes as she told her 'bout Enos Strate saving her. She's always had a crush on him, since she was 5 years old, when young deputy Strate, 20 years old, saved her from a bad fall, climbing over a tree to rescue her after she wasn't any more able to come down: Hazzard law's activity included recovery of children (and cats) from trees.

"_Oh Katie. He kept on calling me Miss Connor, but I prefer when he calls me MaryAnne. Why, when he's on duty, is he always so… professional and detached?"_. Katie remembered MaryAnne's words, and what she said few after, _"But, yesterday he seemed not only detached, but … beside himself; he was kind like usual, yeah, but I've never seen him getting angry and punching someone. Maybe, after what happened to him… poor Enos". _

"Did she tell you something more 'bout yesterday evening?"

Enos' voice woke Katie up from her thoughts. She shook her head, "No, nothing more. She didn't see the stranger any more after you … dragged him in jail".

The way she said _"after you dragged him in jail" _gave Enos the proof anybody knew 'bout his break down. He took a deep breath and he remembered himself he HAD to find MaryAnne, so proving he was still the deputy everybody trusted.

Second step: searching for any possible alternative track, not focusing only on the first one.

"Do you know if MaryAnne, lately, was dating someone? Maybe, after she left the bakery… Is it possible she had a sort of… date? Did you ever talk to you 'bout any boy she had a crush on?". MaryAnne was 17 years old, and Enos knew how girls, at that age, could be always lost in some crush, crush after crush. Daisy too… He pushed away the pesky thought of Daisy flirting with man after man, and, when she was a teenager, with boy after boy… beside him, obviously, the one always waiting for her, the one she always came back to, maybe 'cause, in effect, she'd always been in love with him even if it wasn't still clear in her heart; remembering Daisy's finally confessing her love at the Hospital calmed him down, that love bein' to him, now, the only positive thing in his life.

Katie blushed, "No, no date. She has no crush on any boy out there". An awkward silence followed her words, and Enos understood there was something more behind this silence.

Calm… and kindness, "Katie", he used her name, now, "please, for me, and for MaryAnne's sake, it's very important to know anything you know. If Katie had a crush on someone and she decided to date him, maybe out of sight… and if you know it…"

Katie snapped, her cheeks red, "Oh, Enos Strate. MaryAnne has always had a crush on YOU! She doesn't think of anybody but … YOU", then she burst out crying, both angry to herself 'cause she just betrayed her best friend, confessing her deep feelings, and both sad and worried for MaryAnne.

The young girl crying in front of him, Enos finally realized the cause of her previous blushing and of her silence. Why? Why? WHY was he so naïve and clumsy not to notice that a girl had a crush on him? Since the seventh grade Daisy had always been in his heart, only Daisy, so he had always tried to read every signal from her, a long and complicated task to the point to waste all his energy, no other energy left for women's universe.

Her hands on her face as she went on crying, the last thing Katie felt was Enos' gentle touch on her shoulder and his soft voice as he promised her to find MaryAnne, no matter how.

* * *

At the sunset all Hazzard's citizens, and Dukes too, knew 'bout MaryAnne Connor and 'bout a stranger bothering her the previous day, a stranger Enos Strate beat up (something very unusual) before to arrest him, a stranger sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane let free.

At the sunset Daisy looked up at the darkening sky and she shivered after a cold blast hit her; Enos was somewhere out there, searching for MaryAnne with Rosco and many other volunteers (Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse too with them). She knew Enos enough to know that, in his wry way of thinking, he was blaming only himself for what happened. Why? Why? WHY do things seem to get worse and worse? The last thing Enos needed was something to worry for, something to blame himself for. Something that could push him toward dark and dangerous paths.

* * *

**Things are getting worse and worse for Enos, don't you think? He'd only need some peace in order to finally open up with Daisy... but... no peace on the horizon. Thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate your support. And now, let me think what you're thinking of this** **... swerving, LOL.**


	12. His and her prayers between unsaid words

**HIS AND HER PRAYERS BETWEEN UNSAID WORDS**

The yellow moon seemed a skull floating in the dark sky, spreading his milky light all around, a dark cloud sometimes passing on it and darkening its glimmer as Enos, a torch in his hand lightning the ground, walked slowly in the Chalk Hills' woods, his exploration's area, assigned him by Rosco on purpose bein' the area more far away as possible from the woods nearby Route 16. Any volunteer of that desperate quest had his own exploration's area, carefully assigned in order to cover the most of Hazzard's territory, but anyone knew that searching for someone in all Hazzard's woods, canyons, ponds, swamps, lakes, creeks, caves and ravines was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but they had at least have a try. Moreover, they notified to Sheriffs of any County nearby 'bout MaryAnne Connor's missing in case she (and her kidnapper) passed Hazzard's boundaries.

Pines' needles cracking under his shoes, Enos kept on walking, apathetic about the cold and the weariness, his torch lightening everything around him in order to find any possible mark, his quest obviously not sparing any abandoned build: bein' a moonshiner's son, he knew Hazzard's woods better than his own pockets, but, bein' a moonshiner's son, he also knew how intricate the woods could be, a perfect place to hide something… or someone.

Totally exhausted, despite the help of the torch he stumbled in a fallen branch, falling on his knees, his hands on the ground slowing down his fall, and his torch rolling away. He remained for a while that way, blaming himself for his clumsiness; he finally stood up, he regained his torch and he leaned against a tree, having a deep sigh and closing his eyes.

When he looked up at the moon, his eyes were full of tears of sadness and rage; he prayed God to help him to rescue at least MaryAnne Connor since he hadn't been able to protect himself from Ewan McCoy and to avoid Andy Flanagan's death.

* * *

At the Boarding House, Daisy looked at the moon, her eyes full of tears and her stomach aching for starving and rage as she though of MaryAnne Connor's missing and of how it could affect Enos.

"Daisy, darling, are you sure you want to stay here waiting for Enos?".

Standing in front of the window, her arms folded around his chest, she didn't even turn to her uncle and she glanced at the clock: 11 P.M.

"Why is Enos still out there whereas you, Bo and Luke are already here? I've seen Rosco, and other volunteers too, coming back from the woods, exhausted. It's too late. Now, staying out there is useless and it could be even dangerous. It's better to wait till the morning comes to search again for MaryAnne. It's better to spare energy for tomorrow".

"You're right, Daisy", Luke sank into the couch, tired and sleepy, "and I think Enos's goin' to come back pretty soon. He knew it's impossible now to find something in the woods, and he knows he needs some rest till tomorrow".

"What if something's happened to him... again?", Daisy's voice cracked. Bo's hand reached her shoulder and he squeezed it gently. There was no need to say anything; usual phrases as "He knows how to take care of himself… Don't worry, I bet he's OK, maybe he's sleeping somewhere out there… For sure he's not goin' to get lost in the woods" and various other attempts to calm Daisy would have been completely useless; nothing could calm her 'bout Enos' safety since that day.

"Ok, now, it's better for us come back to the farm. Tomorrow will be a long day", uncle Jesse's voice broke the heavy silence in the room, "Daisy, are you goin' to wait for Enos here?"

Finally Daisy turned to her uncle, nodding.

Uncle Jesse touched gently the bruise on Daisy's left cheek, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. There's no need you to worry for me staying here, but you should worry for Enos, 'cause he's totally wrecked because of … the stabbing… and Andy Flanagan's death… and now… MaryAnne's missing; I know he's blaming himself for what's happened, I feel it better than anyone else. He's always had this attitude of blaming himself when something goes bad, even if there's nothing to blame him for".

Uncle Jesse sighed. When he saw the bruise on her face, that evening, for a while he feared Enos hurt her in a sort of trance or after losing his temper as he did with the stranger, but he knew her niece enough to understand she was telling him the truth 'bout Enos' nightmare and how he unintentionally pushed her off the bed; not something really soothing, anyway, but he could somehow take it as an accident, an accident remarking Enos' break down, an accident telling uncle Jesse that Enos needed help, and Daisy was for sure the one who could help him better than anyone else.

After her family's leaving, finally alone in the little apartment, Daisy sat on Enos' bed, her eyelids heavy because of her bad sleeping during the previous night and because of all her worrisome, something wasting any energy left in her. She yawned and she decided to have a brief nap as she's waiting for Enos since it was useless and excruciating to stand in front of the window looking at the darkness outside, and for sure she couldn't take her jeep heading to Chalk Hills's woods and wandering out there looking for him; exasperated of her helplessness, she impatiently took off her boots, jeans and shirt, she headed to Enos' wardrobe and she put on one of his shirt, then she huddled up under the blankets, praying God for MaryAnne's and Enos' safety till an irresistible drowsiness brought her in a confused and anguish dream-world.

* * *

The sound of the key entering the keyhole woke Daisy up from her terrific nightmares. She slowly opened her eyes, glancing at the clock: 2 A.M. The room around her was totally dark, the moonlight filling it when she fell asleep now disappeared in a cloudy sky.

She laid motionless under the blankets, waiting for her eyes getting used at that total darkness, as a black figure entered the room without even turn the light on. Still between awake and sleep, she looked at the figure taking off and leaning his hat and his belt on the table, then heading to the bathroom, the light filtering under the bathroom's door as he closed it behind him. Few after she heard the sound of the water splashing as he was having a shower, and she closed again her eyes, surprised of that numbness: only few hours ago she was impatiently waiting for him, and now he was back she could barely open her eyes; was it the same numbness that made Enos sleep so long that day? Was it the results of all her worrisome and anxiety? Was it the result of the tears shed during the previous night? Anyway, she felt so numb she couldn't even move a finger.

When the light filtering under the door switched off, he came out the bathroom, a pair of black trousers and a white t-shirt on (as Daisy could guess despite the darkness since she knew his usual outfit for the night), and he slowly came closer the bed, so Daisy, forcing herself out hat numbness and realizing he didn't even notice her presence, sat up.

Completely worn out and trembling despite the water's warmth still on his skin, moving in his apartment in a sort of trance with no need of light since he knew everything in that room, wishing only to sleep, Enos froze, in front of him a black shadow sitting up on his bed and whispering his name, his mind terrified as he tried to understand if it was reality or if it was a nightmare. He slowly stepped back reaching out his right arm to take his belt on the table, the cold metal of his gun's stock colder than ever in his palm, when the shadow turn on the night-lamp near the bed and he realized, in shock, the shadow was Daisy.

"Daisy… what are you… doing… here?", his legs like jelly, he sat down on the floor, his hand away from his gun, fortunately still in its holster. What if Daisy hadn't switched the light on? That thought was terrifying, so terrifying he started to breath quickly, his mouth completely dry, as cold sweat covered his body even more than when he saw that shadow sitting up in his bed, and he started to feel needles piercing his hands and feet: the same terrific feeling he had the day nurse Mary told him Daisy felt sick at the Hospital and State Police (Andy Flanagan) was interrogating her. All those sudden memories, provoked by an already experienced bad feeling,… the Hospital… nurse Mary… Andy Flanagan… all together came to his mind, and the pesky feeling became more and more excruciating.

"Enos… Enos, what's happening, sugar?"

Daisy's voice reached him as if it came from another world, and he needed some time to realize Daisy was kneeling in front of him, her hand on his right knee, her eyes open wide in shock. He forced himself to stand up and to regain his self-consciousness, coming back to reality.

"You… scared me. I didn't know you were waiting for me. I thought you were at the farm", despite his efforts, his voice was trembling, and, in Daisy's eyes, he could read her confusion and her fright. Was he scaring her? Was he so terrible to see now? Was he having a break down in front of her? Another perfect example of break down after he kicked her off the bed that afternoon and after he slept in her arms nearly 24 hours, like a crying baby? He was piteous, and he HATED to feel piteous, most of all he HATED to feel people see him piteous. A sudden rush of pride stiffened him, he walked past Daisy and he took the clock on the night table.

"Tomorrow… this morning I have to wake up early. So, please, go back to sleep, Daisy. I'm goin' to have a nap on the couch", his hands still trembled while he set the alarm clock, "so… I'm not goin' to sleep too much. Last night I forgot to set the alarm, and…", he stopped, and in his unsaid words Daisy wondered if there was reproach for her… or for him, but, since he was Enos, for sure he was blaming himself for everything (to the point to think that MaryAnne wouldn't have been missed if he had woken up in time).

After setting the alarm, Enos walked again past Daisy heading to the couch, not even look at her.

"Enos, please. I think… we need to talk. This evening, before Rosco called you, you were…"

"Yeah, before Rosco called me, but now I'm … busy. Please", his tone changed from harsh to both tired and sweet, "please, Daisy, I need to sleep. Give me some time to sleep, OK? We're goin' to talk… some day. I promise you. But… not now… please".

Impossible to resist to his way to say "please" and to his sweet and sad eyes on her; it was a way he rarely used to stop her stubbornness, and it usually worked: she couldn't force him when he was as good as begging her to stop.

Daisy swallowed her unsaid words, folding her arms around her waist in order to fight against her desire to come closer him and to hug him. She simply nodded.

Enos stared at her, her slight body dressed with only one of his shirt, too much larger from her and too much longer, giving her the look of a child, someone to protect. He felt the urgency to come closer her and to hug her tight, shedding all his tears and sleeping again in her arms, his face buried against her chest. It was LOVE. But… he couldn't forget the bruise on her left cheek was because of him; and that cold still on his right hand's palm, the feeling of his gun's stock and the thought of the possible consequences if Daisy hadn't switched the light on, it was scaring him. The more she stayed near him, the more he could hurt her, physically, and he couldn't even think of Daisy hurt by him. He'd have preferred DEATH to see her hurt because of him.

Love (reach her and hug her) and death (the possibility to hurt her): if his death meant to save her, between love and death he could only choose death. He had to face all his fears and nightmares all by himself, breaking away from her in order to protect her, even if he didn't know if he was able to face it all by himself, but he had no choice. Her vulnerable figure in front of him, the bruise on her cheek provoked by him, he turned over to the couch.

"And… 'bout our wedding, Dais, I think we have to… postpone everything".

Daisy looked at his back, a bitter taste in her mouth as she realized he was rejecting her; only few years ago, only few MONTHS ago, she'd have get angry to him, her pride winning over her and pushing her to take revenge on him (the revenge women usually use when men reject them: disregard and ... show of their capability to find someone else who doesn't reject them, any other man). But a lot of things had changed, and Daisy was no more "stupid and immature" (using Andy Flanagan's words): she knew he was rejecting her not because he didn't love her or 'cause he wasn't ready to share his life with her, but because he loved her too much and, besides, he hadn't yet learned to deal with his pride (as she had learned to, instead, thanks to Andy Flanagan).

"OK, Enos. I'm goin' to wait for you, 'till things will go better". A strange calm in her voice, the calm of someone who knows what to do, determined and not scared of adversities; it was useless now to beg him to talk to her, or to get angry, or to try to push him using her flirting; she knew it. She walked to the bed and she huddled up under the blankets, turning the light off, "And now, sugar, have some rest, tomorrow will be a very long day", she used her sweetest tone in order to let him know she wasn't angry to him but she was only taking care of him.

In the darkness, Enos looked at her figure under the blankets, loving her even more because of her way to talk to him, knowing she was hurt because of his words (but it was better she was hurt for words than for actions) but she wasn't giving up in her intentions to help him to let his emotions out: she was only postponing any new attempt. He finally lay down on the couch and, despite his confusion and mixed emotions, he fall asleep.

Daisy waited to hear his regular breathing as he fall asleep, biting her tongue in order to follow her intention to not even try to push him to talk of things he didn't want nor he wasn't ready to talk to, then she cried silently, her tears and deep emotions bringing her in a heavy sleep, so heavy she woke up when the light was already filling the room.

9 A.M., and he was gone, probably after he deactivated the alarm clock before it went off, in order to let her sleep… and to avoid any possible talk.

She got out the bed and she looked out at the cloudy sky. Again with that bitter taste in her mouth, she decided to have a try with a strong coffee and a hot shower. Few after, wrapped in Enos' bathrobe, she was sitting at the table, a cup of steamy coffee in her hands and the T.V. turn on in order to take her mind off the thought of Enos out there looking for MaryAnne at least for a while, but it didn't work: the speaker was talking 'bout the worst ice storm ever hitting South Georgia.

An icy blast filtering through window's frames made her shiver as she realized the ice storm was already out there.

* * *

**Review, review, REVIEW! Someone out there want Enos and Daisy trapped somewhere, am I wrong? LOL**


	13. Silent pain and loud rage

**SILENT PAIN AND LOUD RAGE**

The noise of the windows shaken by the wind mixed with the TV's buzzing prevented Daisy to hear the gentle knock at the door till the knock became stronger and stronger, nearly hysteric.

She stood up and she run to the door. Enos? Did he find MaryAnne? And … how?

"Daisy?"

The voice outside the door wasn't Enos, but Luke; Daisy, confused, slowly opened the door, and Luke, followed by Bo and uncle Jesse, stormed in, "Daisy, are you OK?"

Daisy tightened Enos' bathrobe around her body, "Yeah, I'm OK, but… why are you asking…?", she carefully looked at Luke, "and what's… that?". His right black eye stunned her. Possible that…? Before she completed that absurd (but nothing seemed absurd, lately) idea in her mind, Luke confirmed it.

"Enos. I have a sort of… fight with Enos". Luke exchanged an embarrassed glance with Bo and uncle Jesse, then he sat down on the couch with a deep sigh and he started to tell her everything.

* * *

_FLASHBACK _

A thin but pesky rain was falling from a cloudy and low sky, as Enos, Rosco and volunteers (Dukes with them) were looking at Hazzard's map, various thumbtacks on it to sign places already explored, and it was depressing to see how few thumbtacks were on it and how much to explore yet.

Finally coming out the Hazzard Police Station, Enos headed to his patrol car, his mind to Chalk Hills and to his still incomplete quest there, when a voice stopped him.

"Hey, Enos, buddy"

He turn to Luke who was following him out the Hazzard Police Station as any other volunteer was still inside with Rosco, the assignment of exploration areas not finished yet.

"Enos…", Luke stopped in front of his friend, "hey, Enos", he remained silent for few seconds as if he's thinking of how to go on, "see… Daisy told us 'bout your nightmare… and I was wondering if… well… if everything's OK. Did you sleep this night?".

Enos stiffened, bothered by Luke's question. For sure Daisy had to explain her family what happened to her cheek, and now he's wondering what exactly she told them, and how much they knew 'bout his nightmares and his subsequent piteous look, adding it to his "shower" in the middle of Mill's Road and to his loosing temper with the stranger: a very piteous version of him. He clenched his right fist, in his palm still the feeling of cold metal, in his heart still the terror of what could have happened that night; huddled up on the couch, his face buried in its back rest as he pretended to sleep, he heard Daisy's crying, fighting with the desire to reach her and to hug her, telling her everything was OK, sleeping by her side … till the next nightmare and its possible consequences. He waited for Daisy falling asleep, then he stayed still on the couch, his eyes opened in the darkness, till the light started to enter the room. No sleep, no nightmares.

Misreading Enos' silence as a implicit request of explanation, Luke scratched his head in frustration, "Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, buddy, … I know you're facing a rough time… but… Daisy too". Bein' the oldest cousin, Luke couldn't help but always be overprotective on Bo and Daisy, and he couldn't deny that the bruise on Daisy's face really upset him despite uncle Jesse's plain calm. "I know Daisy loves you, and she wants to stay by your side. I know you didn't hurt her on purpose. It was an accident, but… see… I'm worried for you… and for her, 'cause she's shocked like you 'cause of what happened… Ewan McCoy… and so on. You have… a problem, Enos, and I don't stand to see Daisy hurt, no more hurt than she already is"

There's nothing worse for prideful people to have someone else explaining them, with pity, they had a problem, a problem they already know and they are ashamed of. Cold, weariness and pride, all mixed together, gave Enos chills.

"Are you sayin' that I'm thinking only of myself and not of Daisy, Luke?"

Luke froze in surprise because of Enos' cold tone and of his way to change the subject. For sure he wasn't telling Enos he didn't care for Daisy, he knew Enos would have done anything for her. So, why that question from him?

"Of course you care for Daisy, Enos. It's simply that…"

"Simply that … I'm not good like you to protect her, and she deserves someone better than me, 'cause I can only hurt her, not on purpose… but I can hurt her… 'cause I'm a looser. It's what you're saying, isn't it?"

Enos had a problem, and now Luke was really, and dramatically, realizing it.

"A looser? Enos, you're NOT a looser, nobody thinks you're a looser. We're friends. Me, uncle Jesse and Bo are only worried for you… and for Daisy".

"Ok, thanks for your worrying for me. Now, I have some work to do. And, anyway, since I'm goin' to be Daisy's husband, Daisy is no more under your responsibility, no matter what you think of me. Besides, you're right, I can be very dangerous, and I've hurt her, again", shocked by his waffle and of that new awareness of his possessiveness, Enos turn to his patrol car, walking away from Luke; he had to stop that absurd talk.

Shocked as much as Enos, or even more, Luke walked after him, reaching him and grabbing his right wrist, "Hey, buddy, what are you talking 'bout?"

The firm grip on his right wrist made Enos shiver, he get free of that grip and he pushed Luke away from him, "DON'T TOUCH ME!", and, before even to realize it, he punched him. Gasping and totally drenched (because of the rain or because cold sweat?), Enos looked down at Luke on the ground as his friend was sitting up, his hand on his right eye. Did he really just punch his best friend? Did he really push Daisy off the bed, hurting her? Did he really nearly shoot her? He leaned his back against the patrol car and he covered his face with his hands.

"What are you… Luke, Enos?".

Uncle Jesse's voice, it was perfect; Enos removed his hands from his face to see uncle Jesse and Bo approaching him and Luke as Luke was slowly standing up. All around the square, eyes on him: another perfect show of break down, all people 'round there wondering why Enos Strate and Luke Duke were fighting, and wondering if it was because of the bruise on Daisy Duke's face. He quickly entered his car and he drove away.

* * *

"WHAT? Luke Duke, did you really… tell Enos he has a problem and you're worried that he could hurt me? You HAD to ask me before to … talk to Enos".

Daisy was furious, and Luke was looking at her in surprise, "Daisy, ENOS just punched me, and you are angry to…ME?". He started to wonder if both Enos and Daisy were mad.

"You deserved it, Luke. I don't stand when you muscle in my business"

"Muscle in your business? Enos is your business? Oh well, but YOU are MY business, and I HAVE to care for you, no matter if Enos is goin' to become your husband and you're his… responsibility, now, as he told me".

The thought of Enos telling Luke 'bout her bein' his responsibility made Daisy smile sadly. She knew that night he didn't reject her but he was only push her away in order not to hurt her with his pain; her heart stirred. Why could things be so complicated with him?

"OK, and now, thank to YOU, Luke, Enos is out there looking for MaryAnne… in that state". Daisy held back her tears.

"Enos is out there in … that state… not because of me. He ALREADY was that way, since… that day".

Luke was right, and for a while nobody spoke, in the room only the sound of the wind.

"We'd be too out there looking for MaryAnne, and, boy, Daisy is under MY responsibility". Uncle Jesse was right; he looked at his oldest nephew with both reproach and affection, and Luke stood up, heading to the door, followed uncle Jesse and Bo.

Before to go out, Luke turned to Daisy, "Go to the farm, and wait for us. We're goin' to drag Enos there, no matter what, after we find MaryAnne".

"OK, Luke". Daisy nodded, sighing. "_You're_ _very optimistic, Luke", _she thought with a mix of affection and sadness. She waited looking outside the window at them leaving the Boarding House, then she dressed up and she left the little apartment. Sitting in her jeep, her mind lost in her thoughts, she drove outside the town heading to Chalk Hills.

* * *

Enos' patrol car stopped against a tree, and his head stopped against the wheel. He slowly opened the door and he came out the car, moaning, his right hand covering his forehead. The cold feeling in his right palm was now substituted with a warm liquid: he removed his hand from his forehead and he looked at the blood on it.

"_Perfect, a very perfect day", _he thought, slamming the car's door in frustration and leaving on it a red irregular stain with five streaks starting from it.

Entering the woods he didn't even feel the rain becoming ice, in his ear Ewan McCoy's evil voice as he leaned over him, on his lap Ewan McCoy's weight as he was sitting astride on him, in his belly Ewan McCoy's blade as he stabbed him.

"_You're a looser, Strate, and Daisy Duke chose me instead of you. This blade is from her"_

Enos clenched his fists, he stopped and he shouted at the sky.

"SHE DIDN'T CHOOSE YOU, YOU WERE ONLY A FLING, YOU… BASTARD!". Gasping, shocked by the rage and the desperation in his words, he wondered why, if it was only a fling, it hurt so much.

* * *

**I've always thought of Enos and Luke having a fight, LOL. Obviously, sweet Enos could punch Luke only if he had a break down, or if he's drunk or drugged, or if he's hypnotized, and this fic is 'bout the first one of these possibilities. Now, it's clear how deep down in his blues Enos is goin', and I hope you're understanding why, in his nightmares, the dark shadow stabbing him mixed with Daisy. **

**Let me think what you think 'bout it. And thank you for your reviews and support.**


	14. Storming tears and a to much deep sleep

**STORMING TEARS AND A TOO MUCH DEEP SLEEP**

Despite her jacket, Daisy felt all the cold outside her closed jeep, and it wasn't only because of the rain becoming ice; in her mind Luke's voice telling her 'bout his fight with Enos gave her anxiety to the point of feeling sick. Enos punching Luke and waffling 'bout bein' a looser and hurting her was a clear sign he's not doin' well, and it added to that sort of break down (the second she witnessed) he had the previous night at the Boarding House: Daisy couldn't help but thinking of him sitting on the floor, his eyes empty as he was lost in something else, his breathing quickly and his skin covered of cold sweat for a time she seemed hours to her, 'til he looked at her, his eyes finally focused on her and not on that sort of nightmare he was having. And now he was wandering in Chalk Hill's woods, looking for MaryAnne Connor whose missing he felt totally, and wrongly, responsible. There was no way she could be calm 'bout it, and her worrisome was killing her; it was impossible for her to go back at the farm and waiting there.

The ice rain became thicker and thicker so she nearly didn't see the white patrol car at the side of the road. She braked and she came out her jeep, approaching the patrol car, Enos' patrol car. Her hair stood up on end when she realized the car was shrunken against a tree, and she started to shake when she saw the bloody stain on the car's door; with trembling hands she opened the door to see another blood stain on the wheel. Her heart beating furiously in her chest, Daisy looked around her, into the woods: where to start to look for him? He could be anywhere in that dark and cold wood, maybe in confusion, or unconscious, or… Daisy started to panic, her first thought to reach the CB and to ask for help, when she heard a scream.

"BASTARD! YOU'RE A BASTARD!"

Enos? Could it be possible? Or was it the wind joking with her scared and confused mind?

Enos… his voice, she was sure of it, even if she wasn't sure 'bout what she exactly heard. Why was he shouting? Did he find the stranger and did something bad happen to MaryAnne? Was Enos in danger? She totally forgot 'bout the CB and she started to run into the woods, following the direction of his scream, driven by a sort of inner radar telling her the right direction even if the scream was now disappeared, but it was still pierced in her mind so she could follow its direction, like an animal, a female, smelling her puppy in danger.

Daisy couldn't tell how long she run, but finally she reached him. He was there, sitting on the ground, his back against a tree, again that lost look in his eyes.

"Enos, oh my God, Enos, what's happening". She knelt by his side, shaking him gently, "Enos, please, stand up, you can't stay here like that; you're goin' to freeze". Her hand gently touched the bruise on his forehead and the small cut, no more bleeding "Does it hurt?"

"She didn't choose you… she didn't choose you… it was only a fling", his words were like a whisper. He was raving, his eyes lost in something in the distance, and Daisy didn't know what to do, now. Coming back to the jeep searching for help, leaving him alone? What if he stood up and he walked away? The wind was becoming stronger and stronger, and ice started to cover everything. They couldn't stay there, she had to bring him to her jeep, and… then? Driving back to Hazzard in that storm?

"_Calm, Daisy, stay calm. There's always a solution. Think… think… think"._

Enos raving in her arms, his words more and more like a whisper, incomprehensible to her, Daisy looked carefully around her, trying to understand where they exactly were, and… she got it.

"Boss' shooting box! It's nearby!", she almost shouted for relief. If they reached it, they were safe: there was a wood stove in it, so they could protect themselves waiting for the storm ended.

"Enos, sugar, just a little effort. Come on, stand up".

His eyes focused on her, changing from confusion and pain into a partial consciousness, "Daisy?"

She tried to smile at him, "Yeah, I'm here, sugar. Come on, have a walk".

Fortunately his partially regained consciousness allowed him to stand up, her right arm around his waist, walking with her to the little shooting box that fortunately, since he seemed unsteady on his feet, was near them, as Daisy thought: her orientation's sense didn't fail, never (she was the son and the niece of moonshiners, after all).

Boss' shooting box was a wooden little cabin with a small porch, placed in a small glade in the woods.

"Enos, do you know where Boss usually hides the key, don't you? Sugar?", Daisy hoped for a positive answer, otherwise they had to force the door, and she wasn't sure Enos was in the condition to force anything. Fortunately, a brief gesture from Enos and Daisy knew exactly where to look for. Few after they were into the cabin, made up of a large room and a smaller one (a little bathroom): the large room had a bed, a small table with two chairs, an old couch, an old wardrobe and also a small gas stove for cooking and a store cupboard; in the center of the room, the wood stove, as Daisy remembered since some years ago she went there with Lulu.

Sighing in relief, she headed to the bed, Enos still by her side following her like hypnotized, her right arm still around his waist, and she helped him to take off his dark green wet slicker (the slicker he always had in his patrol car for any occurrence and that fortunately he wore that morning before to enter the woods under that rain), laying him down and telling him to rest till she lit the stove. The storm outside the cabin and the stove finally warming the cabin, Daisy relaxed; they were safe from the ice storm, but she wasn't sure 'bout Enos' condition.

"Enos". She gently brushed his hair.

"It hurts", he whispered, his eyes closed.

"Does your head hurt, sugar?", she sat by his side, keeping on brushing his hair.

"It hurts", his hand reached his belly and he grimaced in pain.

Daisy started in fear, in her mind Andy Flanagan's words 'bout never forgetting the blade entering his belly; was he having another nightmare? Or was it because of the car accident? Maybe he hurt not only his head. What if he was injured worse than she thought? Nobody knew they were in that cabin, and, besides, nobody could reach them with that storm outside. Again, Daisy panicked.

"What does it hurt, Enos?", she swallowed against the lump in his throat, waiting for his answer.

When he finally opened his eyes looking up at the ceiling, Daisy wondered if he was conscious or lost in another nightmare.

"Ewan… and you… hurt me. Why? You?", he closed again his eyes, another grimace of pain on his face, as Daisy looked at him in shock, her mouth wide open, only the sound of the wind outside filling the little cabin.

"Me? Enos… what… are you talking 'bout? What do you… remember, exactly, of that day?", she held her breath, her heart in turmoil at the idea of Enos thinking of her stabbing him. How was it possible? Or… wasn't he talking 'bout the stabbing but 'bout another way to hurt him? Tears filled her eyes; it was the first time Enos admitted he was hurt… by her. She remembered him talking confusedly of a nightmare 'bout a dark shadow sitting astride of him and then a blade sparkling in the dark, the nightmare he had before pushing her off the bed when she was… sitting astride on him. Did he see that shadow in her? In his nightmare it was that shadow who was stabbing him.. or... it was HER? She stiffened, trying to stay calm in order not to start to shake him to know everything 'bout it. What to do, now? Her mind was lost in every possibility when he kept on talking, answering her question without any other request from her.

He talked, in a sort of limbo between wake and sleeping, he talked of that day, of the car chasing, and then 'bout him chasing the robbers in the woods,… and finally 'bout the glade. His talking was slow and a bit confused, but Daisy could perfectly picture everything of that day. She listened silently, her heart becoming heavier and heavier the more he talked, and she forced herself not to shout him to stop as he started to talk 'bout Ewan kicking him as he was on the ground and how Ewan, at the end, stabbed him: since that day she wanted to know everything, and now she knew everything, and it was terrific and ravaging, maybe worse of her worst nightmares.

And worse of anything she could imagine, his last words stunned her, like a blade breaking her heart, "Ewan told me, as he was stabbing me, you chose him 'cause I'm a looser"

Did he really think she chose Ewan? Did he really think to be a looser? Didn't he trust her love? Daisy was shocked and saddened to the point SHE couldn't even cry whereas Enos, shocking Daisy even more she already was, started to cry, huddling up and sobbing against her hip.

He cried silently, his sobs shaking him, as Daisy looked down at him, so shocked she couldn't move. She needed a while before she finally realized what's happening, laying down in front of him, wrapping her arms around him and letting him sob, with his face buried in her chest. He cried and cried for a time that seemed eternal to Daisy, his warmth breath and his tears wetting her shirt to the point she started to wonder if it was possible someone could shed all those tears; finally his sobs started to become more and more rare, and he fell asleep.

Daisy slowly stood up, a mix of emotions fighting in her chest and confusing her; she didn't know what to do: she wanted to cry, she wanted to shout, she wanted to go out in the storm and start to run anywhere, she wanted simply…, she didn't know what she wanted to. She started to walk around in the little cabin, like an animal in a cage, in her ears Enos' talking 'bout the stabbing and asking her why she hurt him, in her arms still the feeling of his body shaking because of his sobs, her shirt wet because of his tears, adhering to her chest. She stopped, closing her eyes and trying to calm down, breathing slowly and deeply.

Enos was sleeping deeply, in fetal position, and she realized she couldn't do anything but wait for his awakening, and for the storm's end. And then? How to face his pain, again? He told her everything in a sort of hypnosis; was he goin' to remember everything he told her after waking up? How to look at him after knowing his pain 'bout her hurting him? Was it why, lately, he seemed pushing her away? She thought he's pushing her away from him 'cause HE didn't want to hurt HER with his pain, not 'cause SHE hurt HIM with her presence, remembering him Ewan and the stabbing.

She lay down by his side, looking at the ceiling and trying to analyze everything since that day: when did he start to move away from her? A mix of confused thoughts filled her mind, giving her headache; finally, exhausted, she fell asleep.

* * *

"Daisy, wake up"

She slowly opened her eyes.

Luke's blue eyes were staring at her, "Daisy, are you OK?"

"Luke", her voice still hoarse for the sleep, she sat up, looking 'round and remembering she was in Boss' shooting box, and there was an ice storm out there when she fell asleep. Now, outside the cabin it was nearly dark (did she sleep all the day long?), she didn't hear any more the wind and the rain hitting the windows (did the storm was finally over?), and uncle Jesse and Bo too were near her… and they were checking Enos' condition.

"When did he start to sleep, Daisy?", uncle Jesse looked at her, and his eyes made her understand there was something wrong, really wrong. She looked down at Enos, still asleep despite uncle Jesse and Bo's touch: it wasn't a simple sleeping, but something deeper and… wrong. The bruise on his forehead, and his car shrunken against a tree: Daisy realized what's happening and she started to shiver, as Luke hugged her, his right hand sliding up and down along his back to calm her down.

"Enos. What's happening to Enos? Is he… alive, isn't he?", her voice cracked.

"He's alive, but he doesn't wake up. He needs to go to the Hospital, as soon as possible". Uncle Jesse looked at Bo and Luke, and the two cousins looked each other briefly, no need to talk.

Luke parted from Daisy, and uncle Jesse took his place in comforting her while Bo and Luke took Enos in their arms, heading to the door. The walk from the cabin to the General Lee seemed never-ending as they walked slowly in order not to slid on the ice, an ice covering everything and reflecting the remaining sunlight, a dreaming scene, something that could be even romantic and enjoyable... except for Bo and Luke carrying Enos' unconscious body in their arms.

"How did you find us, uncle Jesse?", she wrapped her arms around uncle Jesse's arm.

"We called you at the farm to check you were safe, away from the storm. And when you didn't answer us, nor at the farm nor at the Boarding House, nor on C.B., well, we immediately understood you could be in no other place than Chalk Hills, looking for Enos. When we saw your jeep and Enos' patrol car on the road, we started to look for you in the woods, till we remembered 'bout Boss' shooting box, it was the only place nearby where you could take refuge during the storm. Fortunately we were right".

Daisy buried her face in uncle Jesse's shoulder, "Oh uncle Jesse… If I hadn't come here to look for Enos, he'd have for sure died in the storm. But… even if I found him… he's…", she started to sob against uncle Jesse's shoulder.

Uncle Jesse's sighed, "Daisy, everything's gonna be OK, don't worry. Enos is very strong"

Strong? Maybe physically strong, but… psychologically? She could still feel his sobbing against her chest, and she'd have felt it forever, she knew it. His pain, and his way to blame himself for everything, for…

…everything. "Uncle Jesse… what 'bout MaryAnne Connor? Did you find her?".

Uncle Jesse's arm stiffened in Daisy's arms, and her heartbeat quickened.

"There's … a problem, Daisy"

Daisy stopped, parting from uncle Jesse and looking at him, "What kind of… problem?"

Uncle Jesse averted his look from Daisy and he looked at Bo and Luke slowly laying Enos inside the General Lee.

"Not now, Daisy. Not now. Go with them at the Hospital. I'm goin' to follow you with your jeep".

Torn between the urgency to know 'bout MaryAnne and the urgency to stay by Enos' side, Daisy finally ran away from uncle Jesse to the General Lee, entering it and sitting by Enos's side on the back seat, "OK, Bo, hurry up".

Uncle Jesse looked at the General Lee goin' away and he had a deep sigh, "Oh my God, and now? How can he…?", he took his hat off and he scratched his head, in frustration.

* * *

**Other problems on the horizon? And what a record: Enos two times in Hospital in the same fic, LOL**

**OK, I'm waiting for your reviews and guesses 'bout it.**


	15. Things running in circle

**THINGS RUNNING IN CIRCLE**

The tidy floor of the E.R.'s waiting room reflected Daisy's figure as she walked up and down, unable to wait sitting on the couch near her cousins and uncle. She didn't like the Hospital's smell, a mix of soap, disinfectant, alcohol and something indefinite that made her sick. She was in that same Hospital only two months before, and she was there now, for the second time, and, again, for Enos, and it was driving her crazy.

When the E.R.'s door opened and a doctor called for them, she approached him, her legs trembling, and she listened silently 'bout "a bad concussion… lacero-contusive focus…" (Lacero-what? Daisy couldn't even repeat that definition, and she started to wonder if the doctor was speaking a foreign language or if there's a problem in her ears), "anyway he doesn't need any operation… only to wait till he wakes up to check possible consequences…", (possible consequences?, what kind of consequences?). Only few words reached her mind through the buzzing in her ears, but enough words to understand something was really wrong with Enos; at least, this time, she managed not to rush to the bathroom to vomit during the waiting nor to faint as the doctor walked to them.

Following a nurse, she walked along a corridor to reach a small lift and then another corridor on the second floor of the Hospital, to find out it was the same corridor she walked up and down so may times her last staying there, the corridor where she fainted knowing from Sheriff Little and Rosco 'bout Ewan, the same corridor where she heard Andy Flanagan talking to Enos, leaning her back against Enos's door before to run away. What's that? The department of "Cops variously beaten up, stabbed and traumatized?". Was it a sort of nightmare where the more you walk the more you always come to the same place? She also wondered if it was simply a similar corridor and not the same one of two months before but her doubts disappeared as she saw nurse Mary coming out a room. After two months it was like to start everything again from the beginning: a lot of things had happened, but nothing really had happened. The same dramatic point, a dramatic circle to repeat and repeat.

"Miss Daisy Duke. Oh my God, again…"

She tried to smile, "Again. Yeah", she couldn't say anything more because of her dried mouth and that buzzing in her ears.

"He's sleeping. You can stay there for a while, anyway", Mary walked to a room (fortunately not the same room than her previous experience there) and Daisy, Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse followed her.

It wasn't the same room, but it was alike, and Daisy, exhausted, sank into the couch near the bed, her eyes on Enos; he seemed only sleeping peacefully, the only mark of his need to stay there bein' the bruise on his forehead. Fortunately he wasn't pale as the last time, nor other bruises marked his skin.

Daisy breathed deeply, closing her eyes, "I can't believe it. Again. I've promised to take care of him… what a perfect way to take care of him". She felt tears in her eyes, in her mind Andy Flanagan walking away in the Hospital's hall, telling her to take care of Enos, the man now again in a Hospital bed.

Uncle Jesse squeezed gently her shoulder, "It's not your fault, darling. You SAVED him from freezing during the storm"

"Oh, yeah, but I didn't realize his sleeping was… wrong", she looked at her uncle, in her voice pain and rage.

"And what if you had realize it? There was a storm outside, and you couldn't come out asking for help. You had to stay there, stay with him, waiting for help. You had no choice. Anyway, you wouldn't have woken him up even if you had tried", in uncle Jesse's words there was some truth, but Daisy wasn't satisfied.

"I'd have stopped him… before. I'd have realized there's something wrong with him… a lot before, since he came out the Hospital. I'd have insisted he didn't come back to work soon after coming out the Hospital, I'd have insisted to bring him to the farm for a while, I'd have insisted to understand what's goin' on in his mind instead of waiting. And, the most of all, I'd have NOT dated someone like Ewan McCoy", she clenched her fists, remembering Enos last words 'bout her, and Ewan, hurting him.

"Oh no, no, darling. You CAN'T blame yourself for everything".

Blaming herself for everything: uncle Jesse's was right, she was starting to blame herself for everything… like Enos. She suddenly felt ashamed for her forgetfulness, totally lost in her worrisome for Enos to the point to forget… "And MaryAnne? What's the problem you were talking 'bout, uncle Jesse?"

Uncle Jesse briefly looked at Bo and Luke, and the two cousins looked at each other. Daisy held her breathe, that silence and those looks weren't a good sign.

"Daisy", Luke glanced at Enos, "it's better to talk 'bout it… not here. He's sleeping, but… he could wake up". He showed the door with a brief movement of his head, "Come on, we need to talk in a safe place".

Her heart in turmoil, Daisy followed her family to the Hospital hall, the same where she saw Andy Flanagan for the last time. She started to hate that Hospital, any place of if remembering her only bad things.

She stood in the middle of the hall, her arms folded, "OK, what's up? I'm tired of all these… secrets".

The three men looked at each other, well knowing the challenge in her eyes, and Daisy snapped, "NOW, I want to know what's goin' on. What's happened to MaryAnne?". Her heart was beating fast in her chest, her mind centered on the worst possibility ever: what if MaryAnne was dead, what if that man killed her? How to say it to Enos?

"OK, see, Daisy", uncle Jesse, the Dukes patriarch, took the responsibility to tell her everything, as Bo and Luke looked down, and it wasn't a good sign, "this morning that man called to the Police Station. He kidnapped MaryAnne, and she's his hostage. She's alive, Rosco talked with her by phone. But… that man wants… an exchange in order to let MaryAnne free".

Slowly, things started to become clear in Daisy's mind: MaryAnne's death wasn't the worst possibility.

"He wants… Enos. He said he wants the deputy who punched him and who arrested him. Only him. He said he's got a score to settle with that deputy. The day after tomorrow, at 9 a.m. he's goin' to call again the Police Station in order to talk to Enos, telling him, and only him, the place where to go. If Enos doesn't accept the… fight, or if he tries to bluff not goin' all alone to the meeting, he'll kill MaryAnne".

"WHAT?", Daisy was shocked, "But… how could he…? He's… there, with a bad concussion. He can't face that man, nor physically… nor psychologically", she covered her face with her hands, in frustration. "_and… I DON'T want him to face that man, risking again to_…" , she kept for herself her thought, ashamed of her selfishness to the point to choose Enos no matter what, even if a girl risked to die. _"Think, Daisy, think…. There's another way for sure"_

"We have to find a way to avoid Enos face that man", she started to walk up and down in the hall, "maybe… what if we use the same trick we used with Scanlon? That man would think Enos is alone, and then he'll find himself surrounded by many Enos, he'll be confused and we'll stop him". She looked at Bo, Luke, and uncle Jesse, a smile on her face, "Or… Luke can answer the phone pretending he's Enos, so WE're goin' to the meeting, surprising him, and not involving Enos in it". Luke was perfectly able to mimic Enos's way to "squeak" and talk, and it was something used like a funny and innocent mockery at the farm (and sometimes also used to shuck and jive Rosco on C.B.), no offensive purpose in it, and Enos too knew it very well, having fun 'bout it.

Luke sighed, "If it was so simple, Daisy. That man said that he's not goin' to bring MaryAnne to the place where he's goin' to meet Enos. MaryAnne is goin' to stay with some friends of him, so, if Enos doesn't show up, or if he uses some trick, his friends will kill MaryAnne. So, even if we arrest, or stop, him, MaryAnne won't be safe. He wants Enos, and he'll let MaryAnne free only after he settles his score with Enos. If he'll kill Enos, or if Enos'll kill him, his friends will let MaryAnne free. He wants a … mortal combat, only him and Enos, no other involved".

"But… Enos… can't… not now, in his conditions. We have to find a way to save MaryAnne without involving Enos in it".

"You can't decide for him, Daisy Duke".

Daisy turned to Rosco, just arrived in the hall, looking at her with tired and sad eyes. "What if we decide to let Enos out of it and something happens to MaryAnne? How to explain it to him?"

"_You should have woken me up… anyway, instead of taking any decision for me". _Daisy remembered Enos' words and his sadness and disappointment when she decided to let him sleep instead of waking him up to go to work. Only the day before, only one day, but it seemed so distant. Rosco was right: what if they had decided to not involve Enos in it, trying to save MaryAnne, and failing? But, better to hurt his pride than to let him been physically hurt... or worse.

"But, Rosco, what if … is it all a bluff? Maybe that man won't let MaryAnne free, anyway, or his friend will help him to kill Enos, and then they'll kill MaryAnne too"

Rosco sighed, "I've thought 'bout it, but… I don't know what to do. If we only knew where MaryAnne is, we could save her without any … mortal fight. Anyway, Enos HAS to know what's happening, then we'll decide, WITH HIM, what to do". He walked away, heading to Enos' room.

Daisy looked at her family searching for help, but it seemed they agreed with Rosco, something absurd to her, but, lately, too many absurd things were happening. Walking behind Rosco, her arms folded and her eyes down at the floor, trying to think of a way to change Rosco's mind, she nearly banged against nurse Mary.

"Good news, Miss Daisy. Enos is awake".

Daisy opened her eyes wide, trying not to shout. "_NO GOOD AT_ ALL!._ I'd have preferred if he had slept a bit more, maybe till the day after tomorrow. He sleeps when he has to be awake, and he's awake when he has to sleep. Why things are always so complicated with him?"._

"OK, I need to talk to him. Alone". Rosco looked at Daisy and at nurse Mary before to enter Enos' room, as Daisy leaned her forehead on the cold wall of the corridor (damn corridor) and she started to sob.

* * *

The man was talking on the phone, "Hey, brother. Yeah, it's the day after tomorrow. I hate to be so… humiliated. That cop is goin' to pay for it".

A pause.

"OK, OK. For sure I'm goin' to win over him. I'm your brother, you know. I can't fail".

Another pause.

"Hazzard County. He's the deputy"

The man snorted. Why was his brother now laughing?

"What? Do you want to help me? There's no need you help me, I can take care of myself. You have only to custody the girl while I kill the cop, then you'll let her free. And if the cop kills me, impossible thing, well, you can do whatever you want with the girl, let her free… or… what you want to"

The man raised his eyebrows.

"So, do you want to see the fight? and John too? It's not fair. Remember: only me and the cop, no interferences from you and John. Then, if he wins over me, but he won't, it will your turn to fight with him, if you want to, as John takes care of the girl. But… what if that cop comes to the place not alone? I'm not calm having the girl with us there. If his friends help him, they could set the girl free before I have my revenge on him"

The man scratched his head, "Do you think? You seem to know him very well, his sense of honor and his attitude 'bout his duty"

Another pause, the man sighed, "Hey, don't forget I'm a McCoy, brother", then he put the receiver down.

In the darkness of the room the man took his sword in his hands, starting to sharpen it; a real and old sword, its blade sparkling in the darkness, MaryAnne eyes opened wide in shock on it.

In another room, John looked at Ewan, "You and your brother have a real passion for blades, don't you?" The two men burst out laughing.

* * *

**OK, another twist, here. Things are goin' worse and worse, don't you think?**

**Let me know what you think 'bout it, I'm waiting for your reviews, LOL (THANKS for all your reviews, I really appreciate it)**


	16. His fight and their useless plan

**HIS FIGHT AND THEIR USELESS PLAN**

A tense silence filled the General Lee as Bo drove from Tri-County Hospital to Hazzard, Luke sitting by his side and Daisy and Enos on the back seat; only 24-hours before the orange car was running in the opposite direction, Enos and Daisy on the back seat, the only, and fundamental, difference being that Enos was unconscious at that time.

"Enos, are you sure…?", Luke turned to him.

"Yeah, there's no need you ask me it every five minutes, Luke. I already decided it". Enos' tone was both annoyed and tired, so strange from him; maybe it was because of the concussion, something that would've needed other time spent in Hospital (he woke up very quickly after his arrive to Hospital, with Daisy's huge regret, and doctors said it was a good sign, anyway he should've stayed some more time under their surveillance), but nobody, nor uncle Jesse, nor Bo, nor Luke…. and nor Daisy managed to change Enos' mind, so, after 24 hours spent in Hospital, he decided to self-discharge against medical advice.

Daisy remained silent looking outside the car's window, something pretty strange for her, but she already tried and tried all her best at the Hospital to convince Enos to stay there as doctors suggested him, and then she worked off all her rage against Rosco telling him that if something had happened to Enos she'd have considered the Sheriff the only responsible for it, and now she was worn-out and disappointed. And the worst thing, if there could be a thing worse than to see Enos deciding to do something so dangerous and dramatic, was that he didn't remember anything 'bout the time spent in Boss' shooting box, so that now he seemed even more distant and unapproachable than ever, and Daisy felt all her efforts to come closer him totally gone; they were at the point of "Don't worry, everything will be OK, it's police business, my duty", no little gaps in his shell nor confessions 'bout his feelings on what happened and on what's happening, not even his blaming himself but a total closure: a complete defeat for Daisy.

When the car stopped in front of the Boarding House, Daisy woke up from her thoughtful state. Only another attempt, "Enos, sugar, are you sure you prefer to stay at the Boarding House this night? You could come to the farm with us… or I could stay with you"

"No", he remarked his denial shaking his head, and Daisy's heart became heavier than ever. "There's no need for me to stay at the farm, nor for you to stay here. I need a hot shower, a sandwich and good sleep before… tomorrow".

He went out the car and he walked to the Boarding House.

"Hey buddy, you're not alone in this thing. We'll be with you tomorrow when that man will call, and when we'll know where you have to meet him, well, we'll do something. Let me think of a plan, Enos, and I'm goin' to…"

"It's a thing between me and that man, Luke. Don't muscle in my business… police business", Enos stopped Luke's words with a firm tone, and the brown Duke wondered if his friend still remembered the fight they had the previous day (since Daisy told them he seemed not to remember anything of the ice storm's day), or if he still had those strange feelings 'bout Luke thinking of him as a looser and as someone who didn't deserve Daisy; again, Luke wondered if Enos' words, the previous day, was due to the stressful situation he's goin' through, or if it was something more ingrained inside him, beyond that particular moment, something stuck so deeply into him for he didn't know how much time but previously hidden by Enos' attitude to hide things behind his smiles and his clumsiness. Whereas Daisy thought now of Enos as someone hiding behind a wall (and she was trying desperately to find a gap in that wall), Luke thought now of Enos in a different way: that pride, that rage and that way to push people away from him weren't his wall, but it was… Enos, a too much prideful and lonely man who usually hid behind a wall made of smiles, kindness and clumsiness, now hiding no more, all his pride and his bein' offish coming dramatically out; and, maybe, it's why Luke really worried that Enos could hurt Daisy, driven by his pride and his way to face things all by himself. Or, maybe, both Luke and Daisy were right, it was only a problem of different layers: the outer layer (his first wall) was made of smiles, kindness and clumsiness, the inner one (the second wall) of silences, honor and pride (something exposed when the first wall didn't work or he couldn't use it due to circumstances), and the center was made of a mix of loneliness, sensitiveness and, somehow, weakness. Most people knew only the outer shell (the funniest and sweetest part of him), Enos' friends knew the halfway layer (the strongest and hardest part, and Luke was now facing it), and Daisy, probably, was the only one to sense his hub under everything.

When Enos entered the Boarding House, Bo drove to the Hazzard County Building. When the car stopped, Daisy quickly came out and she stormed inside the building.

"Now, Rosco, I suppose you're really satisfied of how things are goin', aren't you?"

Rosco sighed, the last thing he wanted to do bein' another argue with Daisy, as in the Hospital. "Daisy, Enos HAD to know what's happening, I couldn't hide it to him. If he hadn't woken up… well, WE'd have faced that man, without involving Enos, but… since he woke up, how could I not involve him? If something happened to MaryAnne and if Enos knew 'bout that man and his request, and 'bout us hiding it to him, what he'd…."

"IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ENOS…", Daisy started to shout, but a firm hand squeezed her shoulder, stopping her.

"Daisy, it's pointless now to argue 'bout all these IF. It's better to sit down and find a way to help Enos. But we have to find a way to help him without put MaryAnne in more danger than she is. Don't forget 'bout MaryAnne".

Daisy turned to Bo, his blue and deep eyes on her, his younger cousin now acting and talking in a more mature way than her, and she felt ashamed of her loosing control and her egoistic way of thinking only of Enos and not of MaryAnne. She sighed, she looked down at the floor and she folded her arms, her way to show her disappointment but at the same time her surrender, "OK, you're right, Bo. We have no time to waste. Enos wants to face this thing all by himself, and tomorrow, for sure, he'll want to go to the meeting without us. We could follow him, but if that man sees us MaryAnne will be in danger; maybe it's only a bluff, and there are no friends helping him, but we can't risk. We have to find a way to go with Enos but without let him, and that man, know we are goin' to help him. But… how? That man will talk to Enos by phone, and Enos won't say us where the place for the fight is, and we can't simply follow him hoping he won't notice us"

"We can solve this first problem using Mabel. She could filter… and listen to… the incoming calls, so knowing what the man will tell Enos, and then, after Enos leaving, she'll tell us where he's heading. She's used to… ehm… sneak". Dukes looked at Rosco in surprise and he lowered his eyes, a bit ashamed of revealing so openly to Dukes Mabel's use; not that Dukes didn't know it was hazardous in Hazzard to use the phone for any private (and possibly compromising) information or plan, but it was strange to have Rosco revealing it so openly. Daisy finally started to realize that Rosco was really worried for Enos (not as much worried as her, or, at least, in a different way and for different reasons), and, as Bo said, it was totally pointless arguing but it was better to help each other, since they had the same goal: saving Enos' life. She gently touched Rosco's shoulder, "Great idea, thank you".

"OK, now, what should we do after Enos leaves to go to save MaryAnne?", Bo sat on Rosco's desk, smiling at Daisy and then looking at Luke, knowing that it was usually Luke the one to make a plan, a good plan.

And Luke didn't disappoint Bo. After a long pause he snapped his fingers, "I've got it. What do you think if…", a well built plan came out his mouth, as Rosco, Daisy and Bo listened silently to him, and a smile relaxed Daisy's tight features: there was hope both for Enos and for MaryAnne.

* * *

Lying down on his bed with only his bathrobe on, Enos looked at the ceiling, trying to remember that man and to direct all his rage on him: who's not able to hate can't defend himself, and Enos wasn't the kind of man who hates, except this time. He hated that man, he hated Ewan McCoy… and he hated himself too, because of his weakness.

On the table of the little room, his loaded gun was waiting for him.

He slowly fell asleep, a dreaming world made of violence and blood wrapping him, showing him the upcoming fight in any possible evolution and ending. When the phone rang he sat up on his bed, his heart beating fast in his chest, his breathe quickly and his skin cold. He needed some time to realize the phone's really ringing and it wasn't a nightmare.

He looked at the clock: 4 a.m.

Who could call him so early in the morning? Rosco 'bout MaryAnne? Daisy because of something happened to the farm? Who?

He rushed to the phone. "Deputy Strate's speaking", his voice was a bit insecure and scared, and he bit his lower lip in frustration; it wasn't the time to show his weakness, now.

"Good morning, deputy Strate. I'm sorry to wake you up so early in the morning, but we have a score to settle. Only me and you"

Enos froze, the stranger's voice resounding in his mind. He swallowed against the lump in his throat before to answer, "I was waiting for your call… but … at 9 a.m. … at the Police Department"

The man burst out into a chilling and evil laugher, "Your friends and your sheriff are goin' to wait for my call at 9 a.m. at the Police Department, not YOU. Or did you think I'm so stupid to let know the place for our meeting to everyone? It's OUR fight, deputy Strate"

Enos understood: the phone call at 9 a.m. was only a way to keep his friends out of it. Probably, at that time, when they were waiting at the Hazzard Police Department for that call, he would've already faced that man, and… one of them two would've been already dead.

The man kept on talking, "But… don't worry, deputy. After everything will end, I'll be so kind to phone to your friends and to tell them where to find your dead body… and MaryAnne alive. I keep my promises"

"You shouldn't be so sure I'll be the one who's goin' to die", Enos tried to say those words in his most confident way, but he wasn't sure it worked since the man burst out laughing again; he hated that way of laughing.

"Oh… what a self-confidence. See, now, I'm not drunk, so, if you only have the notion to beat me up as that day, just forget 'bout it. You'll see the hell, cop. And you'll see it two hours from now. I want to see you at 6 a.m. at…"

Enos listened silently to him, then he put down the receiver, he took a deep breath and he started to dress up. He checked his gun and he headed to the door.

His hand already on the door handle, he stopped; he had to do something before to leave… maybe forever. He looked at the clock; he had some time to do it.

When he finally went out his apartment, there was a letter for Daisy on the table.

* * *

Daisy suddenly sat up on her bed, her heart beating furiously in her chest and her skin covered of cold sweat.

She looked at the clock: 5 a.m.

She came out her bed and she headed to the bathroom to wash her face and to try to forget that terrific nightmare: in her arms she could still feel Enos' dead body, in her eyes she could still feel her tears, and in her throat she could still feel the burning 'cause of her shouting.

She tried to calm down: Luke's plan was great, even better than the one they used with Scanlon in a similar situation. Enos wouldn't have been alone, and they would've helped him and MaryAnne. So, why was she so terrified and worried?

She walked from the bathroom to the kitchen and she drank a glass of fresh water, trying to ease the pain in her throat. Sitting at the kitchen's table, she looked outside the window waiting for the sunrise; she couldn't go back to bed 'cause she couldn't sleep anymore, not after that nightmare. No matter what Enos said to her: SHE NEEDED to stay with him at the Boarding House, even if for only few hours before 9 a.m. and before the fight (and their plan).

When she came out the farm, the sunlight started to color the sky of a pinkish shade.

On the kitchen table she left a note for her family: _"I'm goin' to stay at the Boarding House to check Enos's OK. See you at 9 a.m."_

* * *

Finally at the Boarding House, Daisy knocked and knocked at Enos' door, starting to get nervous when he didn't answer: was he in a sort of coma because of the concussion? It was nearly 6 a.m. and she couldn't start to shout calling him, so waking up everyone at the Boarding House. She leaned against the door with her back and she put her hands in the jacket's pockets, biting her lower lip and trying to think of how to come into Enos' apartment. Fortunately she didn't need to think too much: his right hand touched a metal object in her pocket and she reminded she had a copy of the apartment's key in her jacket's pocket, a copy she made only few days before and that she forgot due all the dramatic things happened; she sighed in relief and she thanked she was wearing that same jacket.

Looking at the door she wondered if it was right to enter his apartment like that, she felt like a thief. She shook her head: Enos gave her his key telling her to have a copy of it, she didn't steal it from him, and, anyway, that silence wasn't normal, the same way his deep sleeping during the storm, so she HAD to check everything was OK.

But… nothing was OK: with trembling hands Daisy opened the letter on the table of the empty room.

_Dear Daisy, when you'll read this letter I'll probably be dead. I'm goin' to meet that man at…_

It was a sheet closely written by Enos' small and rounded handwriting, but she stopped reading it at the first line: Enos fortunately wrote where he was heading, and she had no time to waste. She put the letter in her pocket and she rushed out the Boarding House; only when she was away from Hazzard she realized she should've phoned to the farm and to Rosco before to leave; she took the C.B.'s receiver on and she had a try, but, as she supposed, nobody answered her; everybody was still in his bed, waiting for a fake call and an useless plan.

* * *

**Next chapter... the fight. Stay tuned ;-)**


	17. Two swords and one gun

**TWO SWORDS AND ONE GUN**

Route 16. Enos clenched his hands on the wheel: it was the first time since that day he drove on Route 16, Rosco always sending him to patrol any road of Hazzard but not Route 16, probably on purpose, and even after MaryAnne's missing (at this point, he could say properly "kidnapping") his exploration area bein' far away from Route 16. But he was still there, pretty ironic to have to drive in that road in his worst days ever.

He passed the spot where that day he stopped the car before to enter the woods, his hands so clenched on the wheel his knuckles turned pale, a rush of nausea overwhelming him, but he managed to control these pesky feelings; he had to drive to Chickasaw and he had to save MayAnne from that man, no matter what, so he had to stop thinking of that glade and of Ewan McCoy: Ewan McCoy was somewhere, distant from Hazzard now, and that glade was only a bad remembrance, nothing to do with his actual task.

He had to meet that man in Chickasaw County, and for a while he regretted he was driving his patrol car since someone in Chickasaw could notice him, maybe Sheriff Little or one of his deputies, following him and putting MaryAnne's life in danger. But, fortunately, it was early in the morning, and it was supposed Sheriff Little and his deputies weren't still on the road, or he hoped so: it would've been difficult to explain he was goin' to try to save the life of a young girl kidnapped by a stranger, all by himself and out his jurisdiction. Anyway, he knew only one hour before 'bout the place of the meeting, and for sure he couldn't involve Sheriff Little in it.

The sunlight was starting to color the sky of a pinkish shade, but, at the horizon, he could clearly see dark and lower clouds, like that day. Was he goin' towards another fight under a lashing rain? He remembered the rain on his body lying down in that glade, his conscience more and more sinking in a dark shadow, and the same rain visited him many times in his nightmares since then. Again, he tried to erase from his mind those memories, focusing on the road and on the thought of MaryAnne: no glade, no rain and, moreover, no Ewan McCoy.

He stopped his car in front of St. Anna abandoned church, a decaying and impressive gray building standing behind the cloudy and lower sky, which gave the building a even more impressive look; why did that man decide to meet him in abandoned church? Especially a church abandoned in late 1800 after a tragedy, a fire killing 40 people; from then people said the church was cursed. Enos looked up at the vultures flying above the church, and it gave him chills; that man for sure liked epic fights.

He slowly walked to the church, all his senses ready and his muscles tense, his hand firmly on his gun. He climbed up the stairs in front of the church and he stopped on the threshold because of the darkness inside despite the wide and colored windows; his shoes walked on a rug of debris, and the church smelled musty and dusty.

"I'm here. If you want to fight with me honestly you have to come out the shadow. I'm ready". Enos' voice echoed inside the church, as he carefully looked around, his heart beating fast as he thought he was an easy target now, his figure standing in the middle of the door whereas the stranger was hiding somewhere inside, in the darkness.

"You're very brave, deputy Strate. I hope you're alone and you're not goin' to use any trick".

Enos heard some steps coming closer to him, and finally the stranger showed up, slowly walking along the nave towards Enos, who froze in terror as he saw a long sword in the stranger's hand, its sparkling in the light beams from the windows remembering him the sparkling of another blade. Why a sword?

"ENOS!", MaryAnne's scream filled the church, and Enos turned to her; in her eyes he could see a total terror as a man was holding her tight from behind, his gun held to her head. In the shadow of the aisle he could barely see the man holding MaryAnne, but… could he be? A shiver rose all over his spine as he tried to match that face with another one, the face of one of Ewan's buddies, but… it simply couldn't be: that blade for sure shocked him to the point to confuse his mind. He erased the memories of that day from his mind and he focused on Maryanne: he had to save her, and he had to do it BEFORE the fight, 'cause, if he had died, he couldn't be sure that man would've let her free. He thought MaryAnne was somewhere else since that man told she wouldn't have stayed there during the fight, but she was there, and the stranger had his friend's help, so it meant he had lied, and he could lie again.

MaryAnne looked at a total blank Enos aiming his gun at her, or at least it seemed he was aiming at her, but a second later, before she could even shout, she heard the rumble of the gunshot, then the man behind her released his grip as a spurt of a warm liquid reached her face. She looked in shock at the man now on the ground as blood spurted from his forehead, and she touched her face with her hands to find out she was covered of that blood.

"MaryAnne, go away. NOW!"

Enos' voice made her start.

"NOW. Go to my car and drive away. And you…"

MaryAnne looked ad Enos aiming his gun at the stranger, "you… don't move. Let her go away, then we can start our fight"

MaryAnne ran out the church, reaching Enos' patrol car and switching its engine on, a rumor that made Enos sigh in relief: she was safe… at least SHE was safe driving his patrol car away, while HE had to defeat that man to survive.

The stranger devil laugh echoed in the church, "You, bastard. You just killed my friend to set her free, but, anyway, I'd have let her free after killing you, so, there's no need to stop her; besides, without your car, you can't go anywhere. It's YOU the one I want to kill. And now…."

The stranger moved quickly, weaving towards him and Enos fired two times, but that man was running too much quickly along the nave, and his moving was so irregular that he couldn't hit him. He wasn't a motionless target as the man holding MaryAnne, unfortunately.

When the man took something out his pocket, Enos saw a spark darting towards him, and then a piercing pain in his right thigh; despite the pain, he moved from the man's path sidestepping and leaning his back against a column, so avoiding the clash; gritting his teeth he grabbed and he removed the little knife stuck in his thigh, a spurt of blood coming out after he removed it and then running along his leg. He knelt down in pain, as the man, stopping beyond him, was now standing near the church's door, so avoiding any possible escape.

"Oh my God. I didn't think it'd have been so simple hurting you, cop. There's no fun. And now, DIE!"

The stranger attacked him, and Enos had no time to fire but he managed to stop the sword beating down on him with his gun, the sound of the two weapons crashing filling the church, the pesky sound of two metals' friction, and then the sound of other two shots as Enos tried to hit him, vainly because of the sword crossed with the barrel of his gun preventing him to aim at the stranger despite his effort.

The crash of the sword against the barrel of his gun and then its stopping between the barrel and the grip of the gun pushed Enos to the ground, the sword coming closer and closer to his face despite his resistance, there's no way to resist using his gun as a sword; sitting on the ground, he managed to kick away that man with his right leg, and finally the pressure on his gun, and from it along all his arm, stopped and he sighed in relief.

Again, the man didn't give Enos the time to aim his gun: he raised his sword and he tore it down with all his strength, so that Enos, now kneeling, couldn't help but parrying the hit with his gun; because of the strength of the hit the gun and the sword bounced away from Enos' and the stranger's hand, falling on the floor.

Enos looked at his gun on the floor the same time the man looked at his sword; still kneeling, he moved to reach the gun as the man moved to reach the sword, and both men turned to each other, their weapon in their hand, at the same time, Enos lying down on the floor, leaning on his left elbow as he aimed at the man, and the man standing on Enos, his sword aimed at Enos' chest. The sword lodged few inches under Enos' left collarbone the same time he fired, and the man fell to the ground, pushed away by the shot, the sword with him.

Enos huddled up on the floor, crying in pain, his right hand reaching the wound and trying to stop the blood, a large amount of blood, coming out from it, while an excruciating burning pain radiated from his shoulder to his arm (he couldn't move his left arm) and to the left side of his chest; his vision blurred and he felt as he had to vomit, but he managed to breath slowly and deeply, despite the pain, and the world around him stopped whirling.

The man was now on the floor, motionless. Was he dead? Enos sat up, his breath heavy, and he finally realized the man was really dead, a large pool of blood under his body. Was he safe? No, he wasn't safe 'till he wasn't out that church searching for help, 'cause blood was still running along his left leg and along his left arm, and a stain of blood was widening under his collarbone, soaking his shirt. With a desperate effort he stood up, his ears buzzing and giving him the strange feeling of a clapping inside the church.

* * *

Daisy's jeep suddenly stopped, and, even if she tried and tried, she couldn't switch the engine on.

"_Oh, no! Why NOW?"_

She came out the car and she opened the hood to understand what's goin' on, her hands trembling and her eyes full of tears of rage. When she saw Enos' patrol car approaching her, she thought she was dreaming, but when the car came closer she realized it was MaryAnne, and not Enos.

"MaryAnne?! What's..?"

"Miss Daisy. Deputy Enos is at St. Anna abandoned church, and he's fighting with those men. He killed one of them, but…. He can't…", he girl was sobbing hysterically, her tears mixing with blood on her face.

"Those….? How many… MaryAnne?", Daisy's stomach wormed.

"Three. The man Enos already killed, the man who kidnapped me, and…. the man who robbed the bank, Ewan McCoy. He's his brother, the brother of the man who kidnapped me"

Daisy looked at MaryAnne in shock. Ewan McCoy? Enos was fighting against the … brothers McCoy? It COULDN'T be. Was it a nightmare? She started to shiver and she felt as she was goin' to faint, but she found the strength to enter Enos' patrol car and to grab the C.B.'s receiver.

"This is Daisy Duke calling Sheriff Little, this is Daisy Duke calling Sheriff Little… or someone of his deputies". She was in Chickasaw County, and the man who could help her, the man closest to reach, the law, was Sheriff Little, now.

* * *

The clapping inside the church became clearer and clearer, a slow but clear clapping of a single man: Enos realized it wasn't the buzzing in his ear, but a man clapping in the balcony above the nave. He looked up at the balcony as the figure of a man came out the shadow, approaching to a large window, and he felt his heart stopped beating.

Ewan McCoy. It COULDN'T be. Was he unconscious and it was a nightmare? The man holding MaryAnne, so, was REALLY one of Ewan McCoy's buddies (the only left after the death of the third of them in the robbery that cost Andy Flanagan his life).

"Great work, deputy. You killed my brother… and John. Obviously, now, I'm goin' to have my revenge on YOU. You have no choice. You can go nowhere without your car, and I'll let you go nowhere... but hell"

Brother? The stranger was Ewan's brother? Any hope slipped away from Enos' heart, he had no choice but to face him. He bent down to recover his gun, and then he aimed at Ewan McCoy, firing, but obviously the man moved into the darkness: a vain attempt, but in that moment he thought he couldn't try anything else. He slowly walked to the stairs heading to the balcony and he climbed up the stairs, limping, his left arm motionless along his body: did Ewan McCoy want a fight? Well, for sure he wasn't goin' to run away, and, anyway, he couldn't run away with a wounded leg and shoulder, and without his car.

Finally on the balcony, the large window behind him, Enos looked into Ewan's eyes, "You're a coward, Ewan. That day your friends helped you, and now I'm injured"

"Oh, please, don't whine, cop. You have your gun, and I have my sword. It's an honest fight, and I didn't help my brother"

His sword: in his hand Ewan had a sword alike the one of his brother.

"Ok, and now….", as his brother, Ewan moved quickly towards Enos, his sword slicing through air as Enos managed to avoid its slashes, one, two, three times, till his left leg buckled so he fell on his knees, gritting his teeth in pain and raising his gun to parry the sword, as he already did, and, again, because of the strength of the hit, the weapons bounced away from both men's hand, the gun falling near Ewan's feet, and the sword near Enos.

The two men looked at each other, and Ewan, taking Enos' gun from the floor, smiled, a devilish smile. The thought of that man touching and kissing Daisy drove Enos mad; he used his last strength to take the sword and to aim at Ewan's chest, and in that same second Ewan fired.

The shot at close range pushed Enos back to the window; he perfectly felt the bullet entering his chest and the cracking of the window behind him the same way he felt the blade entering Ewan's flesh before to release the sword; the last thing he saw was a cloudy sky above him as he fell out the window, pieces of colored glass around him reflecting the dim sunlight.

* * *

Daisy stopped the car in front of the church the same time Sheriff Little stopped his one. They both ran out the car, heading to the church's stairs, but they suddenly stopped.

A gunshot filled the air, and then the cracking of glass: Sheriff Little and Daisy both looked in shock at a figure falling out the window of the church's balcony.

Daisy froze in terror as she realized it was Enos, and for sure he was goin' to die falling from that height (if he wasn't already dead), but Sheriff Little ran under the window and he extended his long arms. Enos' body fell on Sheriff Little, and Sheriff Little lost his balance and fell on the ground; anyway, he managed to smooth out Enos' impact on the ground, a strong impact since the tall and muscle Sheriff felt some of his ribs cracking as he fell on the ground pushed down by Enos' body.

"Daisy, help me! MaryAnne, call for an ambulance!"

Sheriff Little's feeble voice woke Daisy up from her shocked state.

When the rain started falling, Daisy looked up at the sky and she started to cry loudly, in her arms the weight of Enos' still body while his blood soaked her shirt and her jeans.


	18. Love and death

**LOVE AND DEATH**

_A MONTH AFTER_

Daisy slowly sat up on her bed, the sunlight already filling her room. She got up and she dressed her shirt, blue jeans and boots, then she headed to the bathroom, where she washed her face and she looked at her look in the mirror: tight features, lean face and paleness, a very piteous version of her. She put on her make-up and she sighed; after a month spent goin' every day to Tri-County Hospital, a month spent in a sort of limbo made of nightmares and poor appetite (to the point that only food's smell made her feel sick), finally she could stay at the farm: no more long corridors, tidy floors, aseptic rooms, disinfectant's smell, monitors' bleeps checking vital functions, drips, tubes, nurses and doctors. No more Hospital.

She came out the bathroom and she walked to the kitchen, where she found uncle Jesse smiling at her.

"Good morning, Daisy. Have a seat and I'm goin' to cook…"

"I'm not hungry, uncle Jesse, thanks".

Uncle Jesse looked at her, disappointed, "Daisy, you pushed yourself too … to the edge. Now you have to sit and stop. He's…"

"Did he already wake up?", she took a cup from the cupboard and she filled it with steaming coffee.

"Yeah, and HE ate breakfast"

"Well, he needs to eat to recover"

Uncle Jesse shook his head, "You too, Daisy, you need to recover from all this…"

Daisy gently touched uncle Jesse's shoulder, smiling, "Don't worry, uncle Jesse. Now he's at the farm, out of that hospital, I'm goin' to feel better and better. This night I slept pretty well, no nightmares at all. It's a good sign, isn't it?", then she left the kitchen heading to the porch, uncle Jesse's eyes on her as he thought, again, of the morning, at 8 a.m., she phoned at the farm shouting Enos was dying and she was at Tri-County Hospital with MaryAnne and Sheriff Little, and after that day a month of sleepless nights, tears and a lot of time spent in Hospital.

The morning was sunny, and Daisy could feel the spring's first signals: there was no wind at all and the sun warmed the skin with a gentle touch, birds were chirping and she could smell flowers' scent in the air. It seemed impossible that only one month before an ice storm nearly killed her and Enos. Was it the spring finally coming, or were her senses coming finally to life after a month spent in hell?

"Hey, sugar, how are you? Your first night in a bed out the hospital, did you sleep?", she sat on the porch's swing by Enos' side, the cup of coffee firmly in her hands as the swing gently rocked.

Enos turned to her, a tired and sad smile on his face, "I'm OK, thanks Dais".

In front of her there was a very piteous version of him, a version more piteous than her one. Still muscle but thinner and pale, and, the worst thing, a deep sadness seemed now living in his eyes; he barely smiled, tired and sad smiles, ghosts of smiles she's always known and loved; and if he barely smiled, even worse was now his offish attitude. No words 'bout what happened in St. Anna's church during the month he spent in Hospital: in effect, no words at all during his first two weeks in I.C.U. ,'cause he obviously couldn't talk while he lied, intubated and sedated, in a bed, but even after he came out the I.C.U. only few words from him, and no word 'bout that day, or at least he didn't talk to HER 'bout it, but he had to talk 'bout it with State Police (three dead men, two of them wanted persons, a girl kidnapped and a cop nearly dead out his jurisdiction was something requiring State Police's action). Daisy remembered the two hours spent outside his room at the Hospital while those cops talked with him (or, it'd better to say, they interrogated him), her rage as the time passed, and her will to enter the room and to shout them to leave, to let him rest and not to bother him with pesky questions; she remembered his look as she entered the room after the cops left, a look lost outside the window before to fall asleep without even look at her, nor to talk. She shook her head trying to erase those memories.

"Uncle Jesse told me you already ate breakfast. Do you want a cup of coffee, sugar?", she slowly sipped the dark and steamy liquid, looking carefully at Enos.

He shook his head, "No, thanks", his look lost in the distant mountains.

The coffee became cold and bitter in Daisy's mouth, and she calmed herself thinking he was safe, he was out the hospital, and he's staying at the farm instead of at the Boarding House: a cold comfort his accepting to stay at the farm since, even if he had wanted to stay at the Boarding House, he couldn't simply have stayed there, not limping and not barely bein' able to stand up. The day before, when he left the Hospital, she simply brought him at the farm, without even ask, nor he said he wanted something different (he simply didn't say anything).

"Hey, Daisy. May I ask you a favor?"

"You can ask me everything you want, Enos"

"I … I need to go to the Boarding House…"

Daisy's heart skipped a beat before he kept on talking.

"I need to take something I forgot there. And I need a lift, since I can't drive"

Daisy relaxed, smiling, "Ok, sugar, is it OK for you after lunch?"

He nodded, "OK, thanks".

Daisy sipped her coffee, a bit warmer and sweeter than before.

* * *

When they left the farm the spring-like sky of the morning was turning into a more realistic winter sky since it was still late February. Daisy parked her jeep in front of the Boarding House and she helped Enos to come out and to walk to the house; Daisy by her side with her right arm enfolded around his waist as he enfolded his left arm around her neck, leaning on her shoulders, Enos limped slowly, a dull pain radiating all along his left leg every time he tried to rest all his weight on it.

Daisy caught a brief and nearly pull-back moan from him, so she stopped on the stairs to his apartment, "Are you OK, Enos? Do you need to stop?"

"No, it's OK, don't worry"

"_No, it's OK, don't worry"_: how many times did Daisy hear those words from him in the last months, since Ewan McCoy stabbed him that day of nearly three months before? Ewan McCoy was now dead (and several people with him, friends and foes, and Enos too risked to die… three times in three months) but Enos kept on acting as nothing happened, or, even worse, to act as nothing existed around him, the opening of that day in the Boss' shooting box totally gone (in effect, he didn't even remember it). But Daisy was enough stubborn and patient to wait, wait and wait for him, 'cause she perfectly sensed his discomfort and she wanted to be by his side when he'd have decided to get it off his chest, and she knew he HAD to do it, sooner or later.

Finally in front of his apartment door, both of them took the key out of their pockets, and, for the first time, Daisy saw him having a real smile, probably recalling the day she had a copy of it and especially why she decided to have a copy of it.

"_I'm goin' to be your husband, and my money is your money. And… I think you should have a copy of the key". _His words resounded in Daisy's mind as he inserted his key into the lock, opening the door, and Daisy wondered what he thought, now, of their wedding, since he told her, the night before the ice storm, it was better to … postpone everything, again.

In his apartment, Enos looked carefully around him, as he needed to recall to his mind everything in it, as he had stayed years out of it. His gaze lingered over the empty table.

"How did you find…? Why did you come…?"

His voice was like a whisper and his look was lost on the table, but Daisy started as he was shouting: was he talking of that day? Was he really asking her 'bout that day? He's never asked her why she was there with Sheriff Little that day, nor she told him anything 'bout it when he was at the Hospital, both 'cause he didn't ask anything and 'cause she didn't want to talk 'bout that day (too painful and scaring).

What if she hadn't had that nightmare that night? What if she hadn't decided to go to the Boarding House? What if he hadn't written in that letter where he was goin' to meet that man? What if she hadn't met MaryAnne on the way of St. Anna's church, and, knowing 'bout Ewan McCoy bein' there, she hadn't called for Sheriff Little's help? Enos survived thank Sheriff Little and his quickness in smoothing out Enos' fall (a venture that cost sheriff Little some broken ribs, a broken arm and a concussion, so the cop had to spend some days in Hospital), and Daisy knew it. If they hadn't been there, Enos would've died for sure, and every time Daisy thought 'bout it she felt sick. Did Enos too know how much close to death he was that day?

He seemed to read into her mind, "If you hadn't come here, finding my letter, I'd have died. You and Sheriff Little were there because of my letter, I suppose"

Daisy stiffened in surprise: he was REALLY talking 'bout that day, and freely.

Daisy reached his hand and she squeezed it gently, "I had a nightmare", Daisy decided not to tell him how much close to reality her nightmare had been (her hugging his dead body and shouting against the cloudy sky), "and I decided to come here to check everything was OK, and when I arrived… I found your letter, yeah, and then I run to Chickasaw, where I called Sheriff Little".

"Thanks"

When his eyes met hers, Daisy shivered; he was looking at her as never before.

"Thank you, Daisy, you saved my life. You reached me where I thought nobody could do it".

"I reached you 'cause you called me, and you gave me the way to know where you were goin'"

They remained silent for a while, thinking of the meaning of their words, the silence replaced by the sound of the rain drumming on the window: it was raining, but this time the rain had a relaxing sound.

Enos released his hand from her one and he walked to his dresser, he opened a drawer and he took a small box, turning it over in his hands. Daisy gasped, knowing what it contained: wedding rings.

"Daisy… I…", he kept on turning the small box over in his hands, his look down on it, "do you… still… want to be my wife?"

Daisy looked at him, her mouth open wide before she was again able to talk, "Enos, OF COURSE I want to be your wife. It's the thing I want… the most. Why are you askin' me something like that? Do you think I don't love you any more, sugar?", she approached him and she took his hands in hers, stopping his fidgeting and smiling at him.

"Are you sure you want to be the wife… of a cop? What just happened… it could happen again. I can't give you a peaceful life, I can do my best, yeah, but I don't want you'd … suffer… for me, and maybe you deserve a …"

She stopped him with a kiss, her arms wrapped around his neck as the kiss deepened; when they parted, they were both panting.

"I want to be YOUR wife, Enos, nobody's else wife. Besides, I'm a Duke. Has my life been ever peaceful, sugar?"

She looked at his smile, a wide smile stirring her heart, a smile she was longing for, but a smile with a hint of deep sadness in it. And, finally, it happened, all in a sudden. He fell on his knees and he burst out crying, his face buried in Daisy's chest, his sobs mixing with the sound of the rain drumming on the window and interrupted only by few whispered words.

"I need you, Daisy".

She wrapped her arms around him and she started to cry silently. She needed Enos the same way he needed her, and his nearly death had shown her how much she loved him: love and death had bound them, in an indissoluble way.

* * *

**OK, OK, you were waiting for T-rated fluff. But I couldn't simply jump from the dramatic ending of the last chapter into fluff... without a sort of.. "bridge-chapter". Besides, I decided to start this chapter's timeline a month after the fight 'cause longing over Enos' staying at the Hospital (again, LOL) would've added nothing more to the plot (nothing more than I already wrote 'bout his first staying in Hospital), but in this chapter, and in the following one, you can have an idea of what happened after the fight (and 'bout Daisy's pain and shock).**

**And in the next chapter, the last before the epilogue, OK... FLUFF (T-rated)... It's raining, Enos and Daisy are at the Boarding House,... LOL, do you know what's goin' to happen, don't you?**


	19. Only love

**ONLY LOVE**

As the rain kept on drumming against the little apartment's windows, Enos and Daisy kept on hugging and crying, both kneeling on the floor. They didn't realize how much time they stayed like that, but when they woke up from that long and dreaming contact, outside the window it was already dark.

"Enos, sugar. We have to come back to the farm", Daisy whispered in his ear, his face still buried against her chest.

"Have we? Really?"

Daisy shivered, his breath caressing her chest as he stayed with her face pressed against her.

"Do you want to stay here and to rest a bit, sugar?", her voice was insecure as she wondered what's goin' on with him: that morning was totally offish, and few after he asked her to marry him and then he burst out crying. It was finally time to talk 'bout what's happened along the last months, Daisy knew it very well, and she was both glad and scared 'bout it.

Enos parted from her, wiping away his tears, he stood up and he walked to the bed, sitting down on it, his leg crossed and his back leaning against the wall behind him, his look lost in the ceiling.

Daisy reached him, she sat down by his right side and she took the little box from his right hand, laying it gently on the night table near the bed, then she took his right hand in hers: his hand was warm and smooth, and his fingers tapering. She waited for him starting to talk, patiently, 'cause she knew she hadn't to push him.

And he finally talked.

"Did you read my letter?", he talked not looking at her but at an indefinite point on the ceiling.

Daisy thought of that letter, still closed in a drawer in her bedroom, some dried bloodstains on it (his blood, since she had the letter in her jacket's pocket that day).

"No, I only read the first lines, then, that day, I rushed out the Boarding House to … reach you in Chickasaw County. And, after… what happened… no, I didn't read it. It's in a drawer in my bedroom, and while you were in Hospital I hadn't the nerve to read it". Too painful. Daisy remembered the shock to find that letter still in her pocked when she was at the Hospital waiting for news, stains of his blood on it; she simply closed that letter in a place where she hadn't to see it while she stayed by his side at the Hospital, still not knowing if he was goin' to survive or not. The only thought of reading a letter from him, a letter starting with "_Dear Daisy, when you'll read this letter I'll probably be dead" _made her feeling sick_._ How many times, those days, she asked herself if she'd had ever the nerve to read that letter in case of his death? And when she finally knew he was safe, after several days spent in I.C.U. between life and death, she decided there was no reason to read it.

He wasn't surprise 'bout her not reading his letter, and somehow he seemed relieved, "Uh, well, I'm glad you didn't read it, 'cause it was a really sad letter… of farewell"

A heavy weight pressed on Daisy's chest as she managed not to cry. She squeezed his hand in hers to the point his fingers turned pale, but he didn't try to remove his hand from her grip.

"Enos, I think we should… talk. I mean, a lot of things happened 'cause we didn't talk enough. Don't you think?". It was the point, and Daisy felt Enos' hand having a little spasm.

He remained silent for a while, his look always lost somewhere in the ceiling, and Daisy feared he was goin' to start again with the old story of _"I'm OK, it's my duty_, _the better thing to do"_, and so on: his usual way to keep people away from his soul. Few before he was crying into her arms, but Daisy knew very well he was able to turn offish all in a sudden even after the previous opening, and now she regretted her question, something that could push him to shut up like a clam. Why was so difficult to reach that man's hub? How could he be so…. impossible, despite his appearance of simple man?

But he surprised her, again, "What do you want to talk 'bout, Dais?". His tone wasn't angry, nor sarcastic or disappointed, but he was REALLY asking her to talk to him, to ask him everything she wanted to; the tone of someone who wanted to open himself to her, a real surprise from someone so discrete.

Daisy slowly pondered over questions in her mind 'cause, despite his apparent opening, she was still scared he could suddenly turn offish.

"Did you remember anything 'bout the ice storm?"

He shook his head.

Daisy looked carefully at their intertwined fingers, "That day… you told me I hurt you. I… and Ewan… hurt you". His confused words in that shooting box still burned inside her heart, "and you said Ewan told you I chose him 'cause you're a looser. Is it what you really think, Enos?"

Again, she could feel his hand having a spasm as she squeezed it, but, again, he didn't even try to remove it from her hands.

"I always thought you deserved someone better than me, Daisy. But I never understood why you dated men… who didn't deserve you. You could have someone better than all men you dated… and than me too, but sometime it seemed you didn't know… who you really are".

Daisy blushed realizing the truth in his words, and also because of that "all men". Somehow, he knew her better than how she knew him.

"Oh Enos. Maybe YOU deserve someone better than me. It's what I really though after Ewan stabbed you. I'm so sorry. I spent all my life without realizing how much you loved me, and how much I loved you, wasting my time with… people like Ewan, or Jamie Hogg. But, now, I've finally realized how much I love you, and I'm very ashamed of my past way to act, especially 'cause now I know how much I hurt you". The words she wanted to tell him since that day finally came out her mouth, and Daisy felt relieved.

He turned to her, his eyes lost into hers as he leaned over her, kissing her, surprising her.

The kiss became deeper and deeper; she released his hand and she wrapped her arms around his chest, totally lost in his kiss so that she didn't even realize she was now lying down on the bed, Enos' body on her. In a sort of trance she slid her hands from his shoulders to his chest, starting to unbutton his shirt as he kept on kissing her.

The feeling of her fingers on his bare skin made Enos shiver, and he quickly parted from her.

Daisy looked at him, disappointed but at the same time scared: did her touch wake in him pesky memories? She remembered perfectly his look the day he pushed her off the bed, confusing her with the shadow stabbing him in his nightmare. Did Enos see her like a nightmare when she came close to him? Was it painful for him bein' touched by her?

He was pale and he was panting, and Daisy now started to panic.

"Enos"

She whispered his name and she sat up, reaching out her hand for his nape; she gently caress his short hair without saying anything else, 'till she felt he was relaxing under her touch; he laid down near her, his eyes closed as Daisy, still sitting, looked down at him, her hand now on his forehead, her fingers intertwined with his hair. His shirt was half open, but she didn't touch his bare chest, fearing his reaction. Had he a sort of nightmare? Or…? She understood.

"Enos, do your wounds still hurt?"

"I don't know… it isn't a real pain… it's… I don't know, Dais", he kept his eyes closed as he talked, his voice soft but suffering, his hands reaching his belly.

Daisy's hand stopped brushing his hair, "Do you want to… talk 'bout what happened in St. Anna's church?". She remembered very well how he started to talk 'bout the stabbing during their staying at the shooting box, and maybe his body was somehow telling him he had to talk 'bout everything, letting all his pain come out.

"Do you want to listen to everything? Daisy, it's hard… to talk of that thing… and I think it's hard to listen too", he slowly opened his eyes and he looked at her briefly before to close again his eyes and to sigh deeply.

"If you want to talk 'bout it, Enos, I'm here".

After a long pause, when Enos started to talk 'bout that morning, Daisy could picture in her mind everything he had faced, and the more he kept on talking (his voice like a whisper, his way to talk slow but clear, sometimes stopping as he was wondering if he had to go on or not) the more Daisy felt the urgency to lean over him and to hug him, but she feared her hug could stop him.

"The last thing I remember is a sharp pain in my chest and a crash. Then I saw the sky above me, and I realized I was falling out the window; I remember everything in slow motion, even the gray sky becoming more and more distant and some pieces of colored glass dancing around me. I don't remember when I touched the ground… uh, not the ground, fortunately, but sheriff Little. I probably fainted while I was falling down".

Daisy too remembered that moment, but from another perspective, and she remembered very well his motionless body in her arms. She couldn't resist and she hugged him, burying her face against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his waist, despite the fear he could push her away, but, with her surprise, she felt his arms around her chest.

Nobody spoke, in the room only the sound of the rain still drumming against the windows.

Daisy slowly moved her hands to his shirt's buttons, completing her previous attempt; she slowly slid her hand on his bare chest realizing how much thin he was after his staying at the Hospital (she could count all his ribs under his skin). He had different scars on his chest and belly, and she knew perfectly what any scar meant; any scar was perfectly healed, well visible but healed, but when she touched it he held his breath, probably not because she was hurting him but 'cause of his pride: Daisy knew he didn't like to show his weakness, and she knew he was forcing himself to accept that loving touch 'cause, for him, any loving touch when he felt defeated was like a pitiful gesture, and he always rejected pity or anything similar to a pitiful gesture, even if he needed that gesture so badly.

Enos kept his eyes closed, his arms now along his body, motionless, as Daisy traced with her fingers all his various scars, like a sort of magic healer; he patiently let her see and touch his wounds, and her touch, slowly, really had the power to ease his discomfort: he didn't feel ashamed any more of his weakness or of his need to be cuddled, his pride now finally gone.

When he opened his eyes, Daisy was sitting astride on his lap, her hands still gently touching his chest and belly, in her eyes tears he didn't know if of pain or happiness, or both. He didn't see any shadow in her figure, but he saw only the woman he loved, the woman who loved him. He sat up and he hugged her, then he lied down again, his arms firmly around her waist as he dragged her down with him, kissing her.

When Enos rolled her on her back, his body now on her, Daisy knew everything was goin' to change, forever: she's finally reached his inner spirit (HE LET her reach it) and he was hiding no more under his protective shield.

They were two becoming one.


	20. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

Enos entered the Hospital's Hall in a rush, heading to the elevator and getting restless in front of the closed door, his eyes fixed on the numbers above the doors

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

The doors opened and he stormed inside the elevator's little car, fortunately empty 'cause he wasn't in the mood for waiting other people exit. He frantically pushed the "5" button and he waited the doors closed, his hands sweaty and his breathe heavy.

… 1… 2… 3… 4

The doors opened, and he saw nurse Mary in front of him. He saw her for the last time exactly a year before, when he was in that Hospital as a patient (a patient in a pretty bad condition, especially the last time, the third, he stayed there).

Nurse Mary opened her eyes wide, "You? Again?"

He smiled gently, and he pointed his finger up at the car's ceiling, meaning he was goin' to the 5th floor; his throat was too much dry even to speak.

Nurse Mary smiled, and the doors closed.

5… He ran out the elevator along the long corridor in front of him, 'till he reached her room. He stopped in front of the door and he had a deep sigh before to enter.

She was there, sitting on the bed, beautiful as always, but obviously exhausted.

"Daisy…"

He came closer her bed and the little baby in her arms moaned.

"Shhh, he's sleeping"

"Uncle Jesse called me… I didn't think… it wasn't expected… now"

She laughed, "It seems little Andy is a bit impatient. Stubborn and impatient. He reminds me someone"

"Stubborn and impatient. Yeah, he reminds me someone", he chuckled and the child moaned again.

"Shhh, Enos", but she was laughing.

He bent over her and he kissed her deeply, then he sat near her, his sparkling eyes on his son. His… son.

Daisy looked at him, the uniformed man near her, the man she nearly lost for three times the previous year, her husband. She remembered their first year as husband and wife, their slow knowing each other (Enos' pride and defense finally gone) and their sharing their deep feelings and fears as never before. It's been a difficult year for them, Enos' nightmares still alive inside him, but this time he didn't push Daisy away, and he let her comfort him.

"Our son. Is he beautiful, isn't he?", Daisy gently kissed their son's head, tears of joy in her eyes.

No, she didn't hate that Hospital any more. A circle was finally closed behind them, and a new path was showing itself in front of them, a bright path of parenthood; she knew that path could become dangerous and sometimes painful (her husband was a cop, and in that last year she learned what bein' a cop's wife could be), but nothing could scare her now, their son in her arms and Enos by her side protecting them.

* * *

**A short and sweet epilogue to end this long and angst story. I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Thank to everyone who reviewed, and who "only" read it. ;-)**


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